Bandits Approaching The Entrance
by Guillum
Summary: Rewrite of Enemy at the Gate. Rated T for occasional naughty word. Now completed. Watch out for a sequel sometime soon.
1. Chapter 1

**Enemy at the Gate rewrite**

I decided to write this after seeing the Atlantis finale. It was very enjoyable, but there were a few plot-holes, niggles and inconsistencies, some big enough to fly Atlantis itself through. This aims to tidy up some of those loose ends and make the episode more rounded and fleshed-out.

I do not own Atlantis, someone else does and I'm just doing this for fun. Have a nice day.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Wraith hive ship, somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy**

The Wraith commander strode though the hallways of his hive. He had been called by his chief subordinate, who would only say that his research was complete. He undoubtedly wanted to catch his leader off guard, but the commander knew very well what the research was. The new power sources could now be integrated into the ship, and his various plans could proceed further.

It was therefore with some discomfort (but little surprise) that he reacted to the sight of several warriors, weapons raised, blocking his way into the subordinates' chambers.

"What is the meaning of this?" he rumbled, mainly to buy himself time before weapons were fired.

"Now that my work is nearing completion, your leadership services are no longer required," the subordinate said from behind the warriors. "I will continue the search for new life and new feeding grounds without you,"

"Boldly going where no Wraith has gone before?" quipped the commander, who was still planning his escape. The human joke was lost on the subordinate, who merely scowled.

"Kill him!" he shouted, retreating into his chambers.

The commander, acting on the reflexes and instinct built up over his ten-thousand year life, sprang into action before his adversaries could react. He drew his weapons and let off a volley of stun fire, downing several. Now that that problem was dealt with, the commander ran for the nearest hangar bay, hoping that his shuttle was still accessible.

Fortunately the commander met very little resistance on his route. Evidently the subordinate-turned-traitor had assumed that his firing squad was all that was needed. The commander was spitting curses as he ran, furious that his position had been usurped, but also furious with himself that he did not take greater precautions.

He was approaching the hangar bay. Rounding the corner, he saw his shuttle being attended to by technicians. The commander approached the tech nearest to the ship's hatch warily.

"Is the vessel prepared for flight?" he asked menacingly.

"Yes, commander. However, I was not aware that you were leaving so soon after your arrival," the technician said.

The commander levelled a stony glare at the technician.

"Circumstances change," he said, "There are urgent matters I must attend to elsewhere, and I wish to depart immediately,"

"Very well, commander," the technician said, deferring to the larger Wraith.

"Thank you," the commander said silkily as he swung up into the cockpit. He strapped himself in and started powering up the ship, planning his next move. Where would he go from here? There was but one destination, but the means of getting there were varied.

Seeing that the ship was fully powered, and that there was increased activity outside, he made his decision. Not waiting for the hangar doors to open, he took off, shooting down the launch tubes, blasting the doors open with his ship's weapons and shooting out into empty space.

The race was now on to hyperspace. Could the hive power weapons and attack before the (now ex-) commander could escape? The fugitive took a look at his sensor displays and growled as a storm of blue energy streaked towards him.

He threw the ship into a series of wild evasive manoeuvres but the sheer volume of fire from the hive meant that they scored a few glancing hits. The fugitive snarled and hit a control, causing the vessel expend the last of it's energy reserves to dive into hyperspace and escape.

The Wraith, known to some in this galaxy as 'Todd', caught his breath and settled down for the short hyperspace journey.

* * *

**Atlantis, M35-117, Pegasus Galaxy**

Richard Woolsey hurried out of his office as the gate activation alarms activated. He could see that Colonel Sheppard was dealing with the situation, so as per protocol, he allowed him to continue. He would step in only when necessary.

Even so, he was surprised to see Todd appear on the screen. Evidently he was on a planet that had a MALP by the gate. He watched, concerned, as Todd and Sheppard exchanged in their customary verbal sparring, but he got tired of it fairly quickly when little information of substance was being provided.

Cutting in after Todd, he attempted to steer the conversation in a more productive direction.

"How is this our problem?" he asked bluntly.

The commander of Atlantis listened as the erstwhile wraith detailed his recent escapades, but his attention was piqued when Todd said three particular words.

"I'm sorry, did you say Zero Point Modules?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Indeed, Mr. Woolsey," Todd said, a touch patronisingly.

"Well, if we return to Mr. Woolsey's question," Sheppard said, with a evil grin forming on his face, "How is this our problem?"

The Wraith bristled, and clearly wished to take his next meal from the colonel.

"Sheppard, for once this is not just about me," he intoned, then looked away in disquiet at a panel on the MALP.

"What?" asked Sheppard.

"I believe that your _primitive_ sensor devices has detected a number of cruisers entering orbit above this planet. They will be here within a quarter hour. Evidently my escape was not as clean as I had thought," he said arrogantly.

Sheppard was very much looking as if he'd rather leave the Wraith on that planet to die.

Todd spoke again.

"Gentlemen, if those ships manage to kill me, then you will lose your only source of information about this hive. I will allow myself to be temporarily placed under your _very_ comfortable care, to ensure that this information is not lost,"

"Very well," said Woolsey. "We'll call back in five minutes,"

--

Exactly ten minutes later, Lorne and his team returned through the gate with Todd, who had been restrained in the customary way, including a glove over his feeding hand.

They were greeted by Woolsey and Sheppard.

"Welcome back, Major," Woolsey said, as the colonel and Todd exchanged pointed glances. "Please take our guest to a holding cell, I will interview him shortly,"

With a last leer in Sheppard's direction, Todd allowed himself to be led out of the gateroom by Lorne. Sheppard turned to Woolsey.

"Want me to put in the call to Caldwell?" he asked.

"Yes, Colonel. Please have him proceed to the nearest Stargate. You, your team and Todd will join them in a Jumper once our friend gives us the necessary information," Woolsey said, turning to make his way towards the holding cells. Sheppard gave a mirthless smile as he ordered Banks to establish a sub-space connection to the _Daedalus_, which was currently returning from a set of co-ordinates given to them by Elizabeth Weir during her short return to the city earlier that year. Elizabeth had not said what was there, merely that it would be to their advantage. The senior Atlantis staff had been very curious, but the spectre of an almost unstoppable Hive meant that priorities were now temporarily changed.

Shepard stood in the control room, mulling the situation while Banks set up the connection. What would the hive do? He had a feeling that this 'underling' was the Wraith that Todd had left them with while he and Teyla had taken control of the Alliance. If so, then this could be a problem, because he knew not only where Atlantis was, but also a great deal about the Atlantis' expedition's capabilities.

He was shaken from his introspection by Caldwell's face appearing on the screen.

"Greetings, Colonel Caldwell, what did you find at the mystery coordinates, sir?" he asked good-naturedly. When Caldwell and the Daedalus had first arrived in Pegasus they had a large dislike for each other. Time, and mutual understanding, especially after the Trust incident meant that the two worked cordially together, even if they were not best friends.

"Sheppard, I'd rather not go into it over a long-range channel, but it's certainly very interesting," the commander of the _Daedalus_ said. "What's the big urgency?"

* * *

I did enjoy EatG, but I do think that it could've been a two-or even three-part episode. This is my imagining of such an episode.

I'm making a few changes in this story, mostly with the combat, and also I didn't like the quantity of deus ex machinae, a trap that SG falls into too often for my liking.


	2. Chapter 2

**Enemy at the Gate rewrite: Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 2**

Woolsey strode into Todd's cell, giving the Wraith a frosty gaze. Richard had not forgotten the Attero Device débâcle (which had almost cost him his job), and so was not inclined to trust their slippery guest any further than he could get away with.

He started the questioning, and rapidly found that Todd was his usual lyrical, yet maddeningly vague, self.

Having managed to establish that the hive was not yet complete, but powered by an undetermined number of Zero Point Modules, he decided to press Todd further for more details of the hive, anything that would help Caldwell and Sheppard.

"What can you tell us about the weaponry and tactical abilities of the ship?" he asked bluntly.

Todd maintained the vaguely Gallic non-committal expression he had been wearing so far. _"He's enjoying this, watching us squirm,"_ Woolsey thought.

"I know that the hive is most potent, but I am no-," Todd said, before catching Woolsey's hard expression. "Very well. I merely know that the density of weapons emplacements has been at least trebled, and the power of each weapon is much greater than before. However, the weapons turrets are cumbersome and slow to traverse and recharge." he said, recognising the need to aid the humans. "The hull is significantly denser and thicker...I believe it could be up to a hundred metres thick in places,"

Woolsey felt a private surge of joy in having coaxed this much detail out of the Wraith.

"What is the hive's current location?" he asked.

"Fortunately, I had the foresight to leave a subspace transmitter aboard the hive," Todd said, "which will send out a burst at regular intervals,"

Woolsey had the information he needed. He had to pass this information on to Sheppard immediately.

"See, that wasn't difficult, was it?" he said, and left the room in search of Colonel Sheppard.

* * *

Woolsey arrived in the control room to see an active gate, and Sheppard's team, sans Ronon, talking to Caldwell via video link.

"Gentlemen, I've just been discussing the particulars of this hive with Todd," he said, going on to detail what he had found out for Caldwell, Sheppard and McKay. The latter appeared troubled, but agreed that they needed more information.

"Mr. Woolsey, we don't want to delay. We'd like to take a jumper and rendez-vous with the _Daedalus_ ASAP," said Sheppard.

Woolsey gave the nod. Sheppard and co were already kitted up in preparation for the mission, so they ascended the stairs to the jumper bay. McKay accosted Sheppard on the way up, providing tips about how to approach the hive undetected. Most of these tips were greeted with small nods, but when the reached the jumper Sheppard turned to McKay.

"Rodney, I'm a professional military pilot. I do know how to do this sort of thing, you know," he said gently, before activating the jumper.

"I know, I was just trying to, you know," he said, before trailing off.

"I believe Colonel Caldwell will not wish to be kept waiting," Teyla interjected.

"Yeah, we're waiting for Ronon and our good friend Todd to show up," the colonel said with a mirthless smirk.

Right on cue, the Wraith and the Satedan arrived. Todd had been given alternative attire for the occasion, attire that was free of any hidden stun-rods, or indeed any other unpleasant surprises.

"See, we're all here and now we can go. Rodney, dial the gate," John said.

Rodney sighed slightly as he dialled the address. Once the wormhole was established, Woolsey's voice came over the radio.

"Good luck, Colonel. I don't want you or Caldwell taking unnecessary risks on this one,"

"We'll keep that in mind, Mr. Woolsey," Sheppard replied, a split second before activating the engines and sending them into the event horizon.

* * *

The _Daedalus _was about halfway back to Atlantis when Sheppard had called them up on subspace, and it didn't take them long to reach the nearest gate and report in. They were currently in orbit of a gas-giant's forested moon, about 60 miles from the gate, which was itself in orbit. Caldwell was never happy about having to wait in the middle of nowhere, so it was with relief that he greeted Marks's report of the gate activation and arrival of Sheppard's jumper.

"Colonel Sheppard, nice of you to join us. You are cleared to land in the primary hangar bay," he said over the radio.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, AR-1 and the senior staff of the _Daedalus_ gathered in the ship's briefing room. Sheppard was briefing the assembly, with a holographic representation of the Pegasus galaxy over the table.

"OK, according to the information provided by our _friend_, we know that the hive is currently in deep space, roughly equidistant from these stars," he said, and the view expanded to show a more detailed view of that quadrant of the galaxy, with the hive's approximate location marked by a red ellipsoid. "At our standard cruise speed, it's currently about 3 hours in hyperspace from Atlantis and about 75 minutes from here."

Sheppard looked around at the assembled officers before speaking again.

"Our intelligence on this hive is still very patchy, so our primary objectives are to gather as much data as possible on this thing before engaging. Chances are it'll shoot first and ask questions later, so we've gotta be as quick as possible. Any questions?"

Doctor Novak, the ship's engineer, spoke up nervously.

"Um, Colonel, this might sound like a stupid question, but if this ship is powered by ZPMs, then could we try and steal them?" she asked. Rodney adopted a sneering expression and was about to issue a scathing reply before Sheppard stopped him.

"That's not a stupid question, Doctor, but the truth is we're keeping all our options open until we get these sensor sweeps," he said.

Caldwell spoke up next, mainly to his staff.

"OK everyone, back to your stations. I want us ready for hyperspace by the time I get to the bridge," he said, causing a scramble as the bridge crew departed hurriedly, some speaking into radios, ordering their seconds on the bridge to prepare the ship for a hyperjump.

Caldwell turned to AR-1 and joined them as they left the room, entering the elevator to the bridge.

"Colonel, I saw the data you've got there on their weapons. We're going to have to be very quick on this," he said darkly. Caldwell swiped his card for the bridge.

"Yes sir, but we should be able to limit any damage done with a bit of fancy flying. We certainly don't want to sit still and catch a full salvo from them," John said. "If we drop out a few light-minutes short on silent-running we can plan our next move more easily."

By now the elevator had reached the bridge.

"Oh, I agree completely, colonel," he said, striding out onto the bridge. "Status?" he barked to the bridge crew.

"Hyperdrive is primed, all tactical systems on standby. All systems running at optimal efficiency," the watch officer reported.

"Excellent. Navigation, lock target co-ordinates into the hyperdrive, set emergence at eight light-minutes from the target," he ordered crisply. That would place them about 150 million kilometres from the hive, approximately the distance from Earth to the Sun. The navigational officer busied himself momentarily with his systems.

"Done, sir," he reported.

"Helm, activate hyperdrive when ready,"

The helm officer nodded, and flipping the cover off the red hyperdrive activation switch. Barely a second later, just after he pressed it, a blue cloud of Cherenkov radiation burst forth from the forming hyperspace window and the _Daedalus_ willingly shot forward, faster than the eye could track, into it's maw.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 3**

Now that the _Daedalus_ was en-route to the Hive, the crew could relax slightly. When they were 10 minutes out they would move to action stations, but now was a time to prepare mentally for what lay ahead.

Sheppard's team were about to leave the bridge, but Caldwell jumped up to stop them.

"Colonel, can we have a word in here for a moment?" he asked, steering AR-1 into his ready room behind the bridge. Once inside, they regarded the _Daedalus'_ commander curiously.

"Colonel Caldwell...?" Teyla asked quizzically, as Caldwell switched on his computer. He waited a few seconds for it to boot up before answering.

"Right, I want to tell you about what we found on our trip," he said. He pressed a control, and an unmistakeable shape appeared on the screen.

"An Aurora!" exclaimed Rodney excitedly, before calming down suddenly. "Was it a Replicator ship? It didn't attack you, did it?"

Caldwell suppressed a smile at Rodney's behaviour.

"No, Doctor. In fact it appeared to be completely dormant. It was concealed within a remote nebula," he said. Sheppard's eyes widened in recognition.

"Elizabeth's ship! It has to be," he said. "What sort of condition is it in?"

"Fully armed and operational, but it seems that Doctor Weir put in safeguards to ensure only we could use it. I left behind a science team and a squad of Marines to try and get it going, but they're making slow progress,"

"Does it have a ZPM?" McKay asked.

"Yes. In fact, it seems that Weir was planning on a long voyage, because they've got a lot of supplies and spare parts on board, including a full load of drones," Caldwell said. Pre-empting Dr McKay's imminent question, he continued. "I've ordered them to move to the nearest gate when they gain hyperdrive capability, so you can join them after we've dealt with this hive," he said.

McKay looked as if Christmas had come early.

"This is really cool! I've wanted to get my hands on another of those for _ages_!"

"Doctor, I've loaded the data we have on the _Enterprise_ onto this tablet," he said, passing it over. Sheppard and McKay looked at him as if he were nuts.

"_Enterprise_?" they asked in unison.

"I left the ship in charge of a bunch of geeks, Colonel. What did you expect?" Caldwell said with a tiny grin.

"Fair enough," Sheppard said. He supposed that this was inevitable, sooner or later. "But we are _not_ calling the next ship we find the _Millenium Falcon_, OK?"

"What would be so bad about that? And has that got something to do with you calling me Chewie all the time?" Ronon said gruffly.

"It might, but we try not to let pop culture spread too widely offworld," Sheppard said. Privately, he was surprised that Teal'c had not shown Ronon the Star Wars and Star Trek films while he was back on Earth last year.

His next destination was the brig. He needed to make a few things clear to Todd.

* * *

After Sheppard had gone to rattle Todd's cage, he and Ronon spent the rest of the short journey in their jumper, preparing it for the advance role it would take. They were joined some time later by McKay and Teyla, who had been going over the data on the _Enterprise_ and compiling a to-do list for when they got there. McKay was still muttering excitedly to himself over his tablet.

On the bridge, the atmosphere was calm. They were nearing their reversion point. It was time.

All it took was two words from Caldwell.

"Battle stations!"

Across the ship, crew-members raced through corridors to their various stations according to a meticulous, finely-honed and much-rehearsed plan. Men rushed to the numerous railgun and point-defence turrets, powering them up, performing checks and loading ammunition. In the VLS missile cells at the bow of the ship, nuclear warheads with the power to destroy whole countries were being loaded into missiles and armed. The full complement of sensor arrays and scopes were initialised. Shields were raised, generators were dialled up to maximum output. The enormous naquadah reactor in the stern of the ship was brought to maximum wartime condition, the eight auxiliary sublight magnetoplasmadynamic engines entered their startup cycle, drawing their lithium fuel, and last but very much not least, the hugely powerful main beam weapons were brought online, their separate power feeds and targeting systems active and searching for the enemy.

Across the ship, lights dimmed, airtight doors sealed. Hatches slammed shut over windows and damage control parties took their places. In the hangar bays, F-302 crews suited up and jumped into their craft, prepared to launch at a moment's notice.

The _Daedalus_ was ready for battle.

* * *

The preparations in the Jumper were less dramatic. All Sheppard had to do was press a few buttons, and the Lantean ship powered up with a smooth hum.

Two minutes before reversion, Sheppard moved the Jumper to the front of the bay. He ran a few final checks on the Jumper via the mental interface to pass the time.

One minute before reversion, the bay doors started opening, revealing the swirling, coruscating vortex of their hyperspace tunnel.

On the bridge, the seconds counted down towards reversion. The fine details were under computer control. This was necessary because if they were even a nanosecond late, they could end up flying right into the enemy hive, which was registering now as a dull shadow on the hyperspatial sensors. The helm officer counted down the last few seconds.

"Reversion in:"

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Mark."

In that instant, the hyperspace tunnel came to an end though a window that had crackled into existence only a few seconds earlier, spitting the _Daedalus_ out into realspace once more, decelerating the Tau'ri ship from sixty million times the speed of light to a hundred thousand kilometres per second in the blink of an eye.

"Hangar bay control, give Sheppard clearance to launch," Caldwell ordered.

The bay shields dropped, and the sleek Lantean ship shot out, engaging its cloak as it did so.

"_Daedalus_, this is Jumper One. We are clear and en-route. We'll call back when we complete our pass," Sheppard said. The trip to the Hive would take only a few minutes.

* * *

"We're getting readings," Rodney reported. "It's a hive-ship, about twelve and a half kilometres long, so it's one-and-a-half kilometres longer than usual...Energy readings are very high,"

"Consistent with a Zero Point Module?" Teyla asked.

"Hell yes, in fact I'd say there were several on board,"

"Get any info on their weapons?" Ronon asked.

"Well, Todd's intel seems to be accurate on that front, he was also right about the outer hull, it's extremely dense. It would take a lot of firepower to punch through it," he said worriedly, "and bear in mind that it's getting denser,"

"Alright, we've seen enough here," Sheppard said, pulling back on the stick and sending the Jumper 'upwards' in a graceful arc, back where it came from. As he was doing this, McKay's console beeped ominously.

"Oh crap, they're powering weapons," he said.

A solitary blue energy blast streaked past them, far closer than Sheppard was comfortable with.

"What the hell was that?" he asked angrily.

"I don't know, but I'd get us out of here," Rodney said.

"They can see us,"

"No shit! I'll power down the scanners and reinforce the cloak, help you out," the Canadian said, hitting controls on both his computer and the Jumper's control panel.

"You WHAT? No wonder they can track us if you use active sensors, Rodney. What was wrong with the passives?" Sheppard said crossly, as he evaded more blasts.

Rodney pressed a few more controls, and suddenly the weapons fire around them slackened off slightly.

"Sorry! It's done!" he said apologetically.

"Thanks, Rodney, there goes the element of surprise," the American said. He activated the secure subspace channel.

"_Daedalus_, we've got some good data but have been detected in the process, we could use some cover," he said.

"We read you, Jumper One," Caldwell replied. "Helm, take us in," he ordered.

The helmsman hit a few switches, and the sound of the sublights increased in pitch and volume, reverberating around the ship as it hurled itself towards the enemy along a trail of vaporised lithium.

* * *

Back in the Jumper, Sheppard was having to use all of his flying skill to prevent them from being blown to atoms.

"_Daedalus_ is incoming. They're firing weapons,"

Multiple blue beams lanced out though space, striking the outer hull of the hive. Ignoring the puddle jumper, the hive switched its attention to the new threat. The initial volley of beam fire had struck the thickest armour on the hive and had done little damage, other than producing a few tonnes of ejecta.

"Alright, that didn't go so well. Helm, maintain a high deflection, I don't want them hitting us. Maintain beam fire, launch the Mark 8s, set to detonate 10 metres from their hull" Caldwell ordered.

The return fire from the hive was powerful, but inaccurate, Caldwell noted, as half a dozen missiles shot out from the VLS cells. These missiles were the next-generation on from those he had used when relieving the siege of Atlantis four years ago. To minimise their vulnerability to PD fire, they followed erratic flight paths to their target, never doing the same thing twice.

The upshot was that four of the missiles made it through the thicket of defensive fire and detonated, bathing the hive in high-intensity X-rays and seeming to blow out quite a large number of the hangar bays along the edge of the ship.

_Not bad progress,_ Caldwell thought, _although we haven't got enough missiles to keep doing this._

"Concentrate beam fire on the areas that took missile hits," he ordered. Blue beams lanced out, striking the armour, this time with more impressive results. Several small secondary explosions flared up, blowing some of the side armour of the ship into fragments.

"Sir, it appears that the irradiated areas are much weaker than before, our beam weapons are having more success," Major Marks, his weapons officer and XO, said. Their attention was then drawn by the helmsman.

"Sir, we've got an incoming volley that I can't avoid," he said, strain evident in his voice.

The _Daedalus_ had done an excellent job so far avoiding the majority of fire directed their way, but they couldn't avoid it all.

Blue bolts impacted the rear and ventral shields as the Earth ship twisted and turned in space. Eventually the shield generator covering that area was overtaxed and failed. Although a backup took over almost immediately, the damage was done. A salvo of Wraith weapons fire leaked through and struck the ship, blowing chunks out of the trinium armour and hitting the vulnerable MPD engines, shutting them down.

Mysteriously, as soon as the hits had registered, the Wraith stopped firing. Amid the cacophony of alarms on the bridge, the crew could see the hive disengaging and moving away.

"Why are they doing that?" Caldwell asked, as the last of the alarms was switched off.

"Unknown, sir," the sensor officer said, "There is a power buildup coming from the Hive!"

"Is it going to explode?"

"Negative, sir. It looks like they are about to enter hyperspace,"

"OK, let them go. We've got our own issues to deal with," Caldwell said.

* * *

Jumper One had retreated to a point well outside the plane of engagement. They could see the massive Hive move away, trailing debris from its wounded flank, until it disappeared into hyperspace.

Sheppard keyed the radio.

"_Daedalus_, this is Jumper One, you guys OK?"

"Jumper One, this is Daedalus. The Wraith blew several banks of circuit breakers on the sublights and hyperdrive, repair efforts are under way. You're clear to come back aboard, sir" reported the _Daedalus_'s comms officer.

"Roger that," Sheppard replied, bringing the Jumper back around towards the bruised ship. They could see that the underside of the sublight engines were riddled with carbon scoring, and they could also see a few blocks of their lithium fuel floating below them.

A few minutes later, they had landed in the bay. They exited the rear of their craft to find Caldwell waiting for them.

"Things look a bit banged up out there, Colonel," Sheppard said, as they made their way towards the engineering room.

"The guys are tripping the breakers as fast as they can, and there are people fixing the other damage we've sustained, but to be honest we've been lucky. We were sitting ducks after that hit, we were stuck on a constant vector. Two more volleys and we'd have been history," Caldwell said. "The sensor guys are busy going over the logs from the battle, trying to find out why they left,"

"Damn," Sheppard said. Caldwell's earpiece clicked, indicating that he was receiving a message.

"Doctor McKay, the engineering staff need your help immediately," he said. The Canadian nodded, and scuttled on ahead to find out why he was in demand.

"Have you managed to inform Atlantis of what has happened?" Teyla asked. She did not need to voice the possibility that the hive could be on the way to M35-117.

"We will in a few minutes, once the long-range comms boards have been unscrambled. Hopefully we gave them enough of a bloody nose to make them think twice about mounting any attacks for a while," the _Daedalus_'s commander said.

"Yeah, looks like that's gonna a tough nut to crack," Ronon drawled. The rest of the team could only nod gently in agreement as they arrived in the engineering room.

They were greeted by a stricken-looking Rodney.

"What's up?" Sheppard asked.

"I know why the hive left!" he said mournfully. "We found a signal in the sensor logs that was received just before the hive left. It was interlaced with the same type of radiation from the alternate _Daedalus_ we encountered. But that's not the worst part. The signal contained a set of co-ordinates,"

"Co-ordinates to what? Atlantis?" Caldwell asked.

"Way worse than that. They were co-ordinates for Earth," the physicist said, giving everyone else his stricken expression. Sheppard spoke first.

"Oh shit."

* * *

Oh dear, a cliffhanger... if the mild sweary bits are too much, then do say so and I will not use 'em again.

Thanks for the reviews, they are much appreciated.

Quick technical note: You many be wondering how I arrived at a figure of 60 million c for the hyperdrive speed of the _Daedalus_. I was working off the premise that Earth and Atlantis are 3 million light-years apart (according to Landry), and that 304s take 18 days to make the trip, and working it out quickly on the back of an envelope gives a figure of 60 million times the speed of light.

Also, the speed of a ZPM enhanced 304 (from _The Siege_) comes out at about 275 million times the speed of light, given that the same trip took 4 days.

Magnetoplasmadynamic engines are a real technology that provide similar thrusts to chemical rockets with the advantages of ion engines. Trouble is, they need a lot of power, which makes them unfeasible for current RL spacecraft, but useful for SG spacecraft, as they have big naquadah reactors.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 4**

**USS _Daedalus_, Deep space, Pegasus Galaxy**

"Oh shit,"

Sheppard's words were echoed internally by everyone else. The last time some hives had made for Earth they had only just managed to stop them. This was going to be much more difficult, thanks to the ZPMs.

Major Marks interrupted the gloom via the intercom.

"_Colonel Caldwell, sir, we've got all systems back online. What action should we take?"_

"Get Woolsey on subspace, apprise him of our situation and get us back to Atlantis, ASAP," he ordered briskly.

"_Yes sir. Shall I also send Colonels Ellis and Hu the intel we've gained?"_ the major said, referring to the commanders of the _Apollo _and the _Sun Tzu_, the new Chinese ship.

The IOA had expanded the 304 program, and apparently the Chinese, British and Russians were all sponsoring new ships. The _Sun Tzu_ was the first of these, commanded by Colonel Hu Qingshi, and soon to be joined by the USS_ Pheonix, _HMS _Ajax_ and the RFS _Gagarin_, which were currently in various states of completion in underground yards in the Nevada desert.

"Good thinking, Major. Do it, I'll be up there shortly. Start back to Atlantis when you're ready," he said.

"Colonel, maybe this would be a good time for us to get the _Enterprise_ into action," Sheppard said.

"I agree, but we're going to have to wait until we get to Atlantis for that," Caldwell said heavily.

"Well, I don't suppose that we're passing any Stargates on the way back?" McKay asked.

Caldwell shook his head, but McKay suddenly started clicking his fingers rapidly.

"ZPMs! If we want to take this ZPM powered hive out, then we need ZPMs! Faster hyperdrive, stronger shields, you name it! The power conduits can take it, no trouble," he said confidently.

"Hold that thought, Rodney, we need to thrash out a plan when we get to Atlantis," Sheppard said.

As he said this, the background hum of the ship momentarily grew in volume, accompanied by a minute lengthways judder. They were on their way back to Atlantis...

* * *

**Atlantis, M35-117, Pegasus Galaxy**

Sheppard's team and Caldwell materialised in the Gateroom in a flash of white light. At the same time, Todd had been beamed down to his holding cell. They were greeted by a harried-looking Richard Woolsey.

"Lady and gentlemen, welcome back. We've set up the briefing room for a conference,"

The assembly proceeded up the stairs and into the briefing room.

Apart from Woolsey, Sheppard, Caldwell, McKay, Ronon and Teyla, there were a number of holograms seated at the table. The familiar faces of Colonel Ellis and General O'Neill were there in holographic form, along with Lt. Stackhouse, aboard the _Enterprise_, and a Chinese man in PLA uniform who McKay supposed was Colonel Hu.

"New toys, huh? I guess all those subspace repeaters the _Daedalus_ and _Apollo_ dumped in intergalactic space were a good idea after all," Sheppard whispered in McKay's ear.

They all took their seats, but there was still one empty space.

"General O'Neill, is she not able to make a connection?" Woolsey asked.

"Wait a second, I'll check,"

The commander of Homeworld Security leaned out of shot for a moment, apparently talking to someone. After a few seconds, O'Neill's hand appeared in the holographic field, giving the thumbs up, and a figure appeared in the last seat.

"Sam! Good to see you!" McKay said, greeting Samantha Carter as she appeared.

"Hey Rodney, John, everyone," she said, appearing slightly nervous. Rodney was at a loss until he saw the single star on each shoulder, at which his face fell into a mask of quiet astonishment.

"I see Doctor McKay has noticed that the SGC has a new commander, Brigadier General Samantha Carter," O'Neill said, to a healthy round of applause and a few whistles and 'Ma'am's' from the military personnel. Once the applause had died down, O'Neill called the meeting to order. Sam's cheeks were tinged with pink and she appeared even more on edge than before.

"OK, people, we have a problem. You don't need telling what it is. The assets we have are as follows: The _Daedalus_, _Apollo_, and the _Sun Tzu_. The _Odyssey_ is off in the Ida galaxy to see if there are any traces left of the Asgard and/or the Replicators. I've called Colonel Davidson back, but he'll be about a week. We have the _Enterprise_, good name by the way. We also have a number of surface-to-orbit missile batteries around SGC and Area 51, in addition to the F-302 squadrons and anti-air defences of both locations. Ideas for destroying the hive, anyone?" he said.

"What about the Antarctic outpost?" McKay asked.

"The Wraith picked a hell of a time to figure out Sol's location. The chair is currently encased in a slew of polystyrene at McMurdo, ready for the next flight to Colorado, and the ZPM is being studied at Area 51 while the chair is in transit to the SGC," he said, looking rather like he wanted to strangle the IOA idiots who had ordered the chair moved.

Colonel Hu spoke next.

"General, myself and Colonel Ellis have placed ourselves at a point where we believe the hive will drop out of hyperspace. When they do, we will attack, hoping to delay it further and destroy if possible," he said in British-accented English. Evidently he had spent some time in the UK, presumably at RMA Sandhurst.

"I hate to be the downer here, but what if you fail? You're the last line of defence, and my ship won't be able to make a quick intergalactic journey on secondary hyperdrive power conduits," Caldwell said.

"We need assets here, at Earth," Carter said. "My SG teams are all prepared to help in whatever way they can, and all Earth-based F-302 squadrons are on standby. I believe that Area 51 is unpacking some of the beam weapons destined for the ships under construction there and setting them up for surface-to-orbit operations, but that's pretty much all we have," she said.

Rodney was listening to all this with detached interest. Suddenly he spoke up.

"You missed a ship off your list, General," he said triumphantly. "Atlantis,"

O'Neill was not impressed.

"You have two extra ZPMs there that you haven't told me about? I do know that you'll need three of them, McKay," he said.

"No, sir, but we may have the means to get more of them," Sheppard said, wising up to Rodney's idea. "Todd has a stash of the damn things somewhere. Power up Atlantis, and land _Daedalus_ and _Enterprise _on the piers, we can get to Earth within a few days and kick this hive's ass," he said confidently.

"Not a bad idea, Sheppard," O'Neill said. "Stackhouse! Get your ass over to Atlantis. Richard, get those ZPMs and make your way here when the _Enterprise_ arrives. I don't want to leave anything to chance,"

When nobody said anything further he merely said, "Alright. Get it done, people. Good luck, Ellis, Hu. O'Neill out,"

With that, the various holographic attendees winked out. Stackhouse promised them that he'd be there within a few hours. Caldwell left to oversee the landing of his ship, leaving only Woolsey and AR-1 in the room.

"Oh, this can only go well," McKay moaned. Sheppard grinned and clapped him on the back.

"C'mon, Rodney, crazy plans are our speciality. I'm gonna go chat to Todd," he said genially.

* * *

Sheppard's 'chat' with Todd went very well. So well, in fact, that he gave them the locations to two caches of Zero Point Modules. Sheppard said to the others afterwards that they were lucky that Todd was in such a good mood.

Lorne's team was _en route_ to one cache, Sheppard's to the other in a Jumper.

They found cache 1 on a desert planet on the outer edge of the galaxy, and that cache 2 was on an asteroid at the L5 Lagrangian point of a gas giant. They departed immediately.

* * *

**Unknown solar system, Pegasus Galaxy**

"It's not a bad place to hide stuff," Ronon said as they approached the asteroid. Teyla and Rodney were in the back, in spacesuits, ready to go EVA and collect the goods.

"Yeah, having no atmosphere helps a lot," Sheppard said as he swooped down on the barren rock. It had taken them thirty minutes to get from the gate to the asteroid, and nobody wanted to go back to Woolsey empty-handed.

The Jumper settled down on the surface of the asteroid, and Sheppard depressurised the rear compartment. With that done, he opened the rear hatch, allowing Rodney and Teyla to start their search. Todd had laid several clues for himself or his agents to follow, and Teyla found the first clue easily. After a few minutes she had traced several points, the interconnecting lines from which met at a point.

"Rodney," she said. He was still fiddling with his computer, so Teyla had to call him a second time.

"Rodney, I believe I am in the correct location," she said.

"_Really? Already?"_ came the reply through her headset. She smiled gently.

"Yes. I require the use of your shovel,"

"_OK, I'm on my way. Gimme a minute,"_ he replied, and started bouncing across the lunar-esque surface towards Teyla. When he got there, he wordlessly handed Teyla the shovel from his pack. She assumed that he was simply out of breath and started digging carefully.

After several shovel-loads of dirt had been removed, the shovel struck a solid object. She cleared the dust off of it, revealing a metal box, which she dragged out of the hole.

"Rodney, assuming you have got your breath back, would you help me take this back to the jumper?" she asked.

"_I'm not, er, out of, er, breath,"_ came the breathless reply as the physicist bent down to pick up one end of the box. They made their way back to the jumper, and once they were back inside and free of the spacesuits they opened the box.

"Three ZPMs. Good work, guys," Sheppard said, taking off and heading back to the Stargate at top speed.

* * *

**Atlantis, M35-117, Pegasus Galaxy**

Sheppard returned to find preparations already in place. Lorne had beaten him back with two ZPMs, and the _Enterprise_ and _Daedalus_ were settled on the piers. He gave one of the ZPMs to Caldwell to power his ship, and the other two went to Zelenka on board the _Enterpris_e_._

The senior staff gathered in Stargate Operations.

"Everyone ready?" Woolsey asked of the assembly. Receiving nods all round, he turned to Sheppard.

"Colonel, please head to the chair room and take us out," he said.

--

Five minutes later, Sheppard was in the chair and ready.

"Raise the shield," Woolsey ordered.

The familiar sound of the shield raising echoed through the city, and was soon joined by the distinctive sound of the stardrive, as Sheppard fired the sublight engines.

The city rose slowly at first, then as water was let out of temporary holes in the shield by the automated systems, allowing the main engines to ignite with a brilliant blue glow, it started to rise more quickly, shooting up through the atmosphere, leaving a turbulent and deadly trail along with a huge tsunami behind them.

It was a matter of a few seconds until they were in space proper. Sheppard didn't bother to establish orbit. He simply activated the hyperdrive as soon as the safety protocols allowed him to. The city's systems would take care of the navigation, as Rodney had programmed Earth in as a preset destination years ago.

He sat up, deactivating the chair.

"We're rollin' out the big guns now. This had better work, Rodney," he said.

"_Hey, I'm just the scientist," _he said over the radio. _"It's up to you and the military guys to go kick some ass with the tools I give you,"_

_

* * *

_**Deep space, at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy**

Several hundred thousand light-years ahead, a hyperspace window opened, disgorging a now familiar shape.

The _Apollo_ and the _Sun Tzu_ had detected the hive several minutes ago, as a 3500m long, ZPM powered living ship was the exact antithesis of stealthiness. The Tau'ri ships were primed and ready for battle.

On the bridge of the _Apollo_, the mood was intense. They knew full well what they were up against and they would have to be at their best in order to emerge victorious. Also there was their rivalry with the _Sun Tzu_, against whom the _Apollo_ had conducted many exercises and training simulations in both Pegasus and the Milky Way.  
The upside to this was that they worked well together, and they had rapidly discovered that _Daedalus_-class ships were deadly when they worked in pairs when assigned to mop up some Ori remnants in the Milky Way who refused to surrender. Their two-pronged attacks had reduced an Ori battleship and many Ori-loyalist Ha'taks to stray atoms.

Now their skills would be tested against a far more sinister enemy.

Ellis immediately followed Hu in on an attack run. Their plan was to punch through the armour protecting the massive hyperdrive and disable it with sustained fire.  
A simple plan, but no plan survived contact with the enemy.

"Fire beam weapons, maintain fire on target co-ordinates. Prepare missiles for launch on my mark," Ellis ordered. Through the datalink, he could see that Hu was doing the same. So far there had been no return fire from the hive. _Strike one for the element of surprise_, Ellis thought.

Missiles streaked out from the two ships, wending their way to the target haphazardly, striking the hive in a dispersed pattern. Follow-up fire from beam weapons punched small holes in the ship, but they still had to burrow through hundreds of metres of armour and hull before they even got to any vital systems.

"Sir, they are returning fire!" his sensor officer shouted.

"Helm, evasive!" Ellis ordered. The helmsman didn't need to be told twice. The _Apollo_ made a sharp turn, banking away from the incoming fire before immediately turning back in yet another direction. A few stray bolts struck their shields, stressing the shield generator mountings.

"Weapons, how are we doing?"

"Our combined fire had caused localised damage to the hive sir, but the armour is just too thick! We could run into it at full burn on the sublights and do no major damage," the officer reported.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Ellis said. "Take us in on another run. Keep firing!"

The ships managed to cram in another alpha strike each before it all went horribly wrong.

The _Apollo_ swung round gracefully, with the occasional bolt of energy flashing against her shields. Several kilometres away, the _Sun Tzu_ had a similar plan. Unfortunately, this time the hive was expecting them, and a murderous volume of fire struck the _Apollo, _knocking out a number of power conduits and weapons turrets.

The _Sun Tzu_ managed to avoid the worst of it by abandoning their run, but Ellis was committed to his attack.

"Sir, bow shields down to 10%! Generators are near failure!" reported the weapons officer amid sparks from overloading systems. His men were firing every weapon available at the hive, and the barrels of the railguns were glowing white-hot. There was soot and scorching from rocket exhaust covering the whole dorsal surface of the ship, and they were nearly out of missiles.

"We'll finish this attack run and then disengage!" he said loudly over the din of the frenetic activity on the bridge, but he knew the truth. This engagement had suddenly turned from an attack into a rout.

The _Sun Tzu_ was helping Ellis by trying to eliminate the weapons firing on the _Apollo_, but Colonel Hu could see that it was useless. He barked orders, and the last of his missiles were launched towards the enemy. He could see metal and gases being blasted out of the _Apollo_.

"Colonel Ellis, your ship is lost!" he said into the comm system. "Lower your aft shield and we shall beam you out!"

His sensor officers reported that the F-302s and escape pods of the _Apollo_ were launching.

_He's abandoning ship_, Hu thought.

Amid the din on the _Apollo_, Colonel Ellis ordered his crew to beam to the _Sun Tzu. _The F-302s had already launched, and many had fled in escape pods. The shields had failed, and the front of the ship was being pulverised by enemy fire. The _Apollo_ was lost, and it was now just a question of how many could survive to fight another day, and how many of those Wraith bastards he could take down with him.

Colonel Hu was still attempting to distract the hive from its American prey, but it was impossible. The Hive was out for blood. A crewman reported that the _Apollo_'s primary systems were on the verge of failure. Their reactor was destabilising.

"Abraham, get your men out of there!" Hu growled into the comms. His only reply was a bright flare from the sublight engines.

"What is it with the Americans and lunacy such as this?" he muttered to himself in Chinese. He ordered renewed fire on the hive, but the _Sun Tzu_ would have to disengage soon, Hu thought.

A medical orderly hurried onto the bridge, and reported that many crewmembers from the _Apollo_ had used the emergency beam out and ring transporters to escape.

Hu was about to offer a reply amid the electrical fires and smoke filling the bridge, but he was cut off by a bright flash from outside the ship.

"Colonel!" shouted one of the officers, unnecessarily. "The _Apollo_!"

A particularly vicious salvo had struck the crippled ship, blowing what was left of it into pieces, which impacted uselessly against the hull aromour of the hive.

Hu swore viciously in Chinese. Ellis had become a good friend of his, despite cultural differences, and he swore revenge against the faceless, nameless Wraith who did this.

"Get us out of here!" he barked. "Emergency hyperdrive activation, now!"  
The navigator had been ready for this order for the last ten minutes, and his hand immediately descended on the emergency button for just this purpose.

The _Sun Tzu_, trailing debris and various gases, leapt into the safety of higher-dimensional space using the pre-set emergency hyperdrive, and then after 10 seconds reverted back to realspace again. The Americans referred to it as the 'escape hatch'.  
Hu sat down slowly in his command chair, amid blaring alarms, electrical fires and frantic damage control activity.

"Status report!" he ordered.

The reports from the bridge crew were not encouraging, but it could've been much worse.

Weapons were offline and not coming back until after a full refit. Hyperdrive was operating at fifty percent. Main sublights were temporarily offline, and the auxiliaries were nearly out of propellant.

Life support was functioning at eighty percent. The shield generators were cycling the heatsinks furiously, trying to dissipate the excess energy.

"How many people managed to make it across from the _Apollo_?" Hu asked, regaining a measure of decorum. The crew were now starting to grasp what had happened.

"Colonel, we are reading 103 more lifesigns on this ship than there were before the engagement started," the sensor officer reported.

Hu refused to let the statistics bother him. Yes, over 50% of the _Apollo_'s crew had been saved, but that left nearly 100 people who had been lost.  
It was hard but he would only let that bother him in his quarters that evening when he had a strong bottle of Scottish single malt. He still had a job to do here. He turned to the sensor officer again.

"What is the status of the hive?" he asked.

"It has left the area sir, on course for Earth," the Major on the sensors reported.

"Take us back to the battle site, and salvage any escape pods. After that raise Atlantis on subspace and activate the distress beacon," he ordered. Turning to the medical Lieutenant he asked, "How many of your men speak English?"

"A few, Colonel. Many of the Americans are injured, but there are a number of their officers and medical staff aiding ours," the man said.

"I need to find the senior officer from the _Apollo_," Hu said. He knew full well that Abraham Ellis would've stayed at his command until the end. He followed the Lieutenant off the bridge to find the senior surviving officer from the American ship.

* * *

Another chapter, quite dark this time. Ellis gets to go out in glory, mostly because the _Sun Tzu_ never appearing on screen sucked.

Reviews appreciated as always.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 5**

**Atlantis, in hyperspace, Pegasus Galaxy**

The city had been in hyperspace for several hours, hours in which the command crew waited for any news of success from the _Apollo_ and _Sun Tzu._

"Mr. Woolsey!" Chuck said, "We're receiving the _Sun Tzu_'s distress beacon!"

"Very well," Woolsey said with a heavy heart. "Get Sheppard back into the chair, and have him alter course to intercept,"

Chuck clicked his radio earpiece, muttering into the microphone.

"How long until we get there?"

"They're twenty minutes away, and almost directly ahead of us, sir," the Canadian said.

"I'll alert Doctor Keller and her staff," Woolsey said, leaving Stargate Operations.

He crossed the gateroom, heading for the transporter in the next room. He mulled the new information over in his head. Obviously the interception had not gone well, but what state were the _Apollo_ and _Sun Tzu_ in? Just as importantly, what state was the hive in?

The commander of Atlantis stepped into the transporter and selected the appropriate location. In a blink of an eye he was transported several hundred feet down the central tower to the infirmary level.

**Aurora-class vessel _Enterprise_**

Sheppard knew this was a bad idea. Here he was, sitting in the captain's chair of an immensely powerful warship, being mugged by a bunch of geeks, all of whom were either asking him incomprehensible questions about his brief time on board the Traveler-owned Aurora, or asking him to switch on various systems across the ship.

He was planning his revenge on McKay for the public nature of the Chair Interface Aptitude rankings, when Chuck's voice came over his radio, instructing him to move to the city's chair room in preparation for dropping out of hyperspace.

"I got ya, Chuck," he replied over the radio. "Fellas, it's been a pleasure, but I'm needed elsewhere," he said, before making a hasty exit. He was predictably accosted by pleas to stay, but he was having none of it. His next radio call was to the duty officer on the _Daedalus_, asking for a short-cut back to the city via the beam.

* * *

**Stargate Command, Earth, Milky Way**

Brigadier General Samantha Carter was not enjoying her first few weeks on the job. She had thought that taking command of Atlantis was a challenge, but being back on Earth, right in the middle of all the bureaucracy, made it even worse. Fortunately she had the newly-promoted Colonel Davis as a fixer, aide, and general god-send, to help her out. Davis had acquired the unfortunate nickname of 'Major Disaster' when working at the Pentagon, and it was just too bad that his tenure at Cheyenne Mountain had to start this way.

He was currently overseeing matters in the control room, whilst Carter dealt with the bigger picture, or more precisely, General O'Neill. She was in the briefing room, watching SG teams return through the gate. Her main attention, however, was only partially directed down the phone. She was also running over some important programming parameters for an important project.

"Yes sir, Atlantis' subspace burst indicates that the Hive was not stopped, and that the _Apollo_ was destroyed, along with Colonel Ellis and forty-five percent of his crew. They've recovered the _Sun Tzu_, and they're back _en route_, ETA about a day and a half. McKay's maxing out the city's hyperdrive, almost beyond safe limits in my estimation. The big problem is that we don't know when the hive will show up here," she said.

"_Okay then, time for what, plan B? Or is it C by now?" _O'Neill said. _"The IOA has passed out the message to it's member governments to prepare for an attack and emergency disclosure to regular military forces. I want every asset that we can use to be on standby and ready to go at a moment's notice,"_

"Yes, sir. I'm pulling SG teams back from their missions where possible, but SG-1, 3 and 8 are still dealing with some Ori remnant forces and won't be back for nearly two days," she warned.

"_That's just too bad, they're going to have to miss the party. What's the situation at Area 51?" _O'Neill asked, knowing that the base would be a primary target.

"They've got all their surface-to-air and surface-to-space missile batteries ready, along with some CIWS systems and some guns from an old _Ha'tak_, and they're also trying to set up a shield generator. They're breaking out all their toys," she said.

"_Well, at least they aren't sitting ducks. I've put all our F-22s on stand-by in addition to the F-302s. The Russians, Chinese, British, French, Japanese and Australian Air Forces are doing the same with their elite units. If any Darts come along unsupported, they're going to get a hell of a fight, but we're still sitters as far as the hive and any of it's larger companion ships are concerned," _he said worriedly.

"I do have a theory as to that, sir," she said. Now to pitch her project.

"_That's the Sam Carter I know. What'cha got?"_

"The chair is currently in the back of a C-130 at RAF Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands, and there are people working on it, trying to get it running, but they aren't hopeful of achieving anything meaningful, they don't have the infrastructure down there," she said. "The ZPM isn't currently in the drone platform either. We need to get that ZPM plugged in in Antarctica and we also need a means of supplying the control signals for the weapon. Area 51 is jury-rigging the incomplete beaming systems of the _General Hammond_ to one-shot the ZPM to Antarctica. For the other part of the plan, we need Atlantis. We think that the city's chair can be used to activate the platform once they're in orbit,"

"_Great. What's the catch?"_

"Well, we don't have that many people free to write the necessary programs and do the testing work on the beaming commands," she said. "I'm working on it myself with Bill Lee, that's how stretched we are,"

"_Great. Keep me posted. I'll be there in an hour with President Hayes and President-elect Obama. We need to give him the tour," _ he said.

--

Over the course of the next day, preparations continued apace. The alert state of the world's armed forces was raised, leading to renewed speculation in the media. There had been occasional speculation about large classified international programs with possible extraterrestrial connections over the past seven years, especially since many unusual events had had connections to Cheyenne Mountain and Groom Lake, and all the current situation did was set more tongues wagging.

After twenty-four hours, Cheyenne Mountain and Area 51 were the most heavily fortified locations in the country. The outgoing and incoming presidents had conferred and were heavily involved in planning efforts. Unsurprisingly, once he had got over the shock of seeing a Stargate activation and the incomplete _General Hammond_, Obama favoured moving towards an officially-disclosed program over the course of his administration. Hayes had merely grinned and had said "Why do you think we let this media speculation and rampant tin-foil hattery continue?"

* * *

**Epsilon Eridani system, Milky Way**

ε Eridani was a star system lying about 10.5 light years from Sol. Like most such systems in the Milky Way, it was normally completely lifeless, the only artificial phenomena present being TV and radio waves emanating from Earth.

However, the system was not currently devoid of life. A dark, hulking vessel had emerged from hyperspace a few minutes previously.

Sensor arrays reached out, locating their ultimate destination, an unassuming yellow main-sequence star. They did not care much for the broadcasts of Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings that emanated from the vicinity of that star, for they were focussed on but one objective. All those electromagnetic waves merely spurred them on to their goal.

Food.

The massive ship surged forwards towards that distant star as it's engines flared, sending it once more into hyperspace for the last leg of it's journey.  


* * *

**Atlantis, in hyperspace, on the outer rim of the Milky Way**

The city had just entered the Milky Way. McKay and Zelenka were busy nursing the hyperdrive, whilst Sheppard and a large team of scientists were completing work on the _Enterprise_. The _Daedalus_ had been fully re-stocked with munitions, and the crew of the _Sun Tzu_ tried frantically to repair their ship, not wanting to let the Americans grab all the glory once they re-engaged the hive.

Doctor Keller had the most immediate problems. She had over a hundred patients from both the _Apollo_ and _Sun Tzu _with injuries of varying severity, ranging from mere bruises to severe head trauma and electrical burns. Her triage nurses, along with their counterparts from the_ Daedalus_, and survivors from the other shipswere running from room to room, searching for those needing immediate treatment. They had picked up the wounded a day ago, and she had not slept since then. There were even a few people scurrying about with modified Goa'uld healing devices. Sadly, she had lost several people, from both ships, but she had to let such things go and focus on her work.

Down in the hyperdrive control room, McKay was equally as tired, but he and Radek had perhaps the most vital job in the city. The Czech and the Canadian were seated at control panels in a state of both suspense and monotony, monitoring a large number of variables, as the hyperdrive pelted them through higher-dimensional space at many hundreds of millions of times the speed of light.

A small beeping noise roused Rodney from his reverie.

"Uhh, Radek, take a look at the primary coolant flow rates?" he asked. Zelenka looked up from the book he was reading to keep himself awake.

"They are very much lower than they should be, I'm redirecting from the backups," Zelenka said, dropping the book and tapping away at his panel. "That should do it,"

"Excel-," Rodney said. He was cut off by more beeps and a small jolt.

"Crap, we're out of hyperspace! What's gone wrong now, what have you done?" he said anxiously.

"I have done nothing. There appears to be a loose or corroded mounting for one of the central motivators," Radek said. "We should get down there, we do not want to delay,"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious,"

--

"What's the prognosis, Doctor?" Woolsey asked. He, Sheppard and Caldwell were in the office.

"_I'd say thirty minutes to identify and replace the corroded item. Maybe less, some of the Marines are helping us with the heavy lifting,"_ came the reply.

"We can't wait that long, Mr. Woolsey," Sheppard said. "If I take the _Enterprise_ and max it to Earth it'll only be a few hours. Same for the _Daedalus_,"

Woolsey needed only a few seconds to decide. Time was of the essence, and they needed ships at Earth _post haste_.

"I agree. Colonels, please leave as soon as possible, we can't waste any time" Richard said.

"Right," Caldwell said. "We can do that,"

He called up Marks on the radio.

"Marks, beam me to the bridge and Sheppard to the _Enterprise_, ASAP," he ordered.

"_Yes sir,"_

Caldwell and Sheppard vanished in bright flashes of light about three seconds later.

Woolsey moved into the control room.

"Amelia, please reconfigure the Stargate for Milky Way co-ordinates and dial Earth when you're done," he ordered, before stepping out onto the balcony to watch Caldwell and Sheppard leave.

It was an impressive sight, and one that boggled the mind slightly, standing on a space-borne balcony, watching two large warships, one that was half a kilometre long and the other several times that, float serenely outwards from their docking points through the shimmering curtain of energy enclosing the city. Just as the ships' sublight engines flared, indicating that they were about to jump into hyperspace, Banks joined him.

"We've reconfigured the DHD, sir,"

"Already? That was fast," he said.

"It's a simple program written by Doctor McKay. The complicated part was calibrating the point of origin to our current location," she said.

"Very well,"

The pair re-entered the control room. Sure enough, the symbols on the gate now matched those familiar to the Milky Way.

"Dial Earth," he ordered. He waited as each chevron buzzed into position and locked, spelling out the familiar sequence of symbols. As the final chevron locked, Richard set the frequency dial of his radio to the standard SGC channel.

"Stargate Command, this is Atlantis, do you read, over?"

He repeated the call a number of times to no avail.

"Anything on the IDC system?" he asked.

"No, sir. Standard protocol dictates that no IDC signal must be interpreted as 'stay away'," Chuck said.

"I know, Chuck, I was the one who drafted those rules," Woolsey said. "Any of the sensors show anything unusual?"

When all present shook their heads, he called McKay.

* * *

Rodney and Zelenka were making good progress. They had removed the damaged component, after having disassembled a few other things, and were now fitting the replacement.

"There," Rodney grunted as he manoeuvred his spanner onto the last nut, tightening it in a matter of seconds. "Done. Now to put it back together," he said to the Marines with them, who had helped with some of the bulkier items. They began passing up bits of Ancient hyperdrive, and the two scientists turned engineers turned mechanics retraced their steps. Or at least they started to. Woolsey's voice accosted them via the radio.

"_Doctor McKay, we need you up in the control room. We have something of a mystery here,"_

McKay sighed.

"Boy, I hate being indispensable sometimes," then over the radio, "I'm on my way,"

* * *

So, the intergalactic chase proceeds...

I took the slight liberty of imagining that the Pegasus gates (being the second-generation Stargate) have an ability to display local symbols on the ring, like that crazily expensive Russian keyboard with OLED screens.

As always, reviews appreciated, and I'm also going to plug my SG-1 story, As According to Plan. Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 6**

**Situation Room, Stargate Command, Colorado**

The SGC Situation Room was a recent addition to the facility, borne out of a growing need to monitor goings-on in the solar system. The idea had been suggested by the now-retired General Landry after the Ori incursion into the solar system two years ago, when he got frustrated with the temporary facilities that had to be cobbled together when a threat presented itself.

The Den, as SGC personnel referred to it, possessed the most advanced command and control technology available to the Tau'ri, making full use of a series of Asgard-designed sensor arrays hidden at various locations, usually military bases belonging to IOA members. Airmen and women sat at arrays of computer screens, monitoring the output of these sensors and channelling the data to a holographic display system in the central pit of the room, which was currently projecting the Earth and objects of interest in low orbit. This display was currently being observed by Colonel Davis and General Carter. Suddenly a soft bleeping noise interrupted their thoughts.

"We have a contact!" Colonel Davis said urgently, turning to a computer station. "Attempting to identify,"

The display zoomed out, showing the Earth and it's natural satellite. A tiny red sphere winked into existence, a few thousand kilometres from the Moon.

Sam didn't need to wait for Davis's analysis to know that this was their unwelcome visitor.

"Initiate the primary plan. Pass the message on to the IOA, and have Area 51 activate their defences. I want every F-302 on this planet ready to go at a moment's notice," she said to the room at large.

"Alert the IOA militaries directly and prepare for mobilisation," she continued. "I'll call General O'Neill, and Presidents Hayes and Obama. The Wraith have arrived,"

* * *

**Selenocentric orbit, Sol System**

The commander of the Hive stood proudly in his command centre. He had found the now-legendary homeworld of the irritating Atlanteans, and the life-form readings coming from the sensors were practically making him drool. This planet was like nothing he had ever seen during his long life in his home galaxy, both in terms of population and technology. He was partly repulsed that they had managed to breed to such numbers, but gleeful that he was the first Wraith to find it and exploit it. He was eager to get down to the planet and feast, but first he had to eliminate the humans' powerful Lantean defence systems.

"Launch the first wave of Darts!" he shrieked.

Dozens of the tiny fighters swept out from the hive's cavernous hangar bays, accelerating to high velocities and bearing down on the area indicated in the transmission they had received only a few days ago. The Wraith had no particular name for it, but Lincoln County, Nevada was about to have a battle royale on it's hands.

The commander activated his communicator.

"Activate the portal!" he shouted to the warriors guarding the Stargate, which had been retrieved from the humans' defunct intergalactic transit system. "Let them find no escape, no refuge and no respite from us!"

The commander's hubris was deflated slightly when he did not receive a response, but he simply assumed that those guarding the gate at that point were the dumb drones.

--

At the Stargate, Major Lorne, Rodney, Teyla and Ronon had stepped through from Atlantis, accompanied by a dozen of the best military personnel from the city. There was a mix of US Army Rangers, SAS, Royal Marines and Russian Spetsnaz, and were the best that the Tau'ri could throw at the Wraith.

McKay was fiddling with his tablet computer, trying to locate their objectives. After a few positive beeps from the device, he gestured down a corridor. The group fanned out, sweeping the corridor with their suppressed P90s.

"What've you got, Doc?" Lorne whispered in McKay's ear.

"They've got four ZPMs," Rodney said, angling the display so the Major could see the readout. "The good news is that they're relatively close together,"

"And the bad news?" Lorne asked.

"They're just over fifteen hundred metres aft of the Stargate. We can temporarily cripple the ship by taking out just one of them, but it'll take them longer to get back online if we take more," Rodney whispered.

"Well, let's get a move on. We know that we're in the vicinity of Earth. They could be attacking right now," Lorne said. He turned to the others and made a few hand signals. The men nodded and the strike force started moving down the corridors at a brisk pace.

--

Back in the Den, General Carter watched the swarm of tiny holographic Darts flocking towards Earth. The sensor picture was very detailed, with critical data being displayed alongside each contact, both friendly and hostile.

"Scramble the 302s to intercept, and have the Nellis F-22s in the area to catch any that make it through," she ordered. Turning to Davis, she asked, "ETA of Atlantis?"

"We haven't heard from them since they picked up the _Sun Tzu_, but if they stay on schedule then they could arrive at any time from now to an hour," the Colonel said.

"Alright. Let's get this show on the road," the new commander of the SGC said.

* * *

**Area 51, Nevada**

The Area 51 base was one of the most heavily defended locations on Earth. In addition to the squadrons of F-302s, it had a variety of missiles and energy weapons, and also a theatre shield, to protect the stores of priceless alien technology gathered since the creation of the Stargate Program. Also buried under the dry lakebed were the cavernous hangars where DSC-304 construction was taking place. Some of the most valuable artefacts had been moved on board the incomplete _General Hammond_ to afford at least some protection from the attack. Alarms were echoing across the desert around the base, calling all personnel to their stations.

The F-302s of Charlie Flight were leaving their hangars in threes and making their way to Groom Lake's runway, the longest in the world at 7km. However, thanks to their various enhancements, the 302s needed only a scant few hundred metres of the strip before rocketing up off the deck into the air.

As soon as the last three aircraft had cleared the runway, the theatre shield, cannibalised from a scrap _Ha'tak_ bought from the Jaffa, was activated.

--

Back in the SGC, the tactical displays now showed several dozen blue blips streaking up through the atmosphere to meet the storm of red. A second group of blue signals was circling at lower altitude, above a blue halo surrounding the base, representing the shield. These were the F-22s from the nearby Nellis Air Force base, whose pilots were undoubtedly reeling from being told of the Stargate Program and the Wraith, but ready to defend The Box, as they called it.

All Carter and the various pilots, gunners and soldiers could do now was wait for the Wraith to try and run their gauntlet.

The first group of Darts entered range of the F-302s at an altitude of about one hundred thousand feet, where the F-302s could take full advantage of their atmospheric advantage over the Darts, which were optimised for space fighting.

At a range of over 100 miles, the pilots immediately locked on with their first salvo of AIM-120N missiles and fired, breaking away immediately after launch. At supersonic speeds 100 miles could be covered in seconds, and the Earth pilots wanted to press their advantage at long range.

The multi-mach missiles were adapted with the same flight path randomisers as the capital ship missiles, and all but one managed to avoid the token defensive fire from the enemy. Seventeen of the Darts were instantly destroyed and several more were damaged, spiralling down towards the ground, where they would be mopped up by the other defences.

The 302 squadrons split up into pairs, again widening the range on the enemy, most of whom had ceased their descent and were attempting to engage.

The 302s swung back round, having gained sufficient range for another missile salvo. However, the Earth fighters could not keep firing missiles for ever, as they had only six each of the AIM-120Ns and two anti-ship Mark 8 nuclear missiles. The number of inbound Darts meant that soon they would have to close the range to start using their Asgard energy cannons, and at that point, things would get ugly.

--

On the hive, the Atlantis strike force had penetrated only a few hundred metres into the Hive before meeting stiff resistance from Wraith crewmembers.

"We need to keep moving! Smith, Teyla, move into the next corridor!" Lorne shouted over the staccato bursts of gunfire to the Royal Marine and the Athosian, who quickly slipped ahead to ensure the way was clear. Finding that it was not, Lance-Corporal Smith unclipped a fragmentation grenade and threw it down the corridor, which caused the weapons fire directed at them to drop to sparse bursts. Teyla and Smith used the opportunity to enter the corridor and eliminate the two survivors.

"Major Lorne, the way is clear," Teyla said over the radio.

"_Great. W'e're on our way,"_ came the reply from the USAF major. A number of dull rumblings signalled more grenade detonations, and Rodney was the first to join them, followed by Major Lorne and the rest. Predictably, Ronon was the last out, taking the opportunity to take out a few straggling Wraith. The Satedan was wearing a feral grin and relishing the prospect of several hours more of fighting the Wraith.

The force took a very brief moment to check their weapons, and as they started moving again, an unfamiliar drawling voice came over their radios.

"_Stargate Command, this is Colonel Mitchell of SG-1. Do you copy?"_

The assembled team members looked somewhat bewildered.

"_General Carter, this is SG-1 with SG-3 and SG-8. What is your status, ma'am?"_ Mitchell said, evidently irked at not getting a response to his IDC. Rodney looked at Lorne with a "well, get on with it," expression. The major nodded condescendingly at the scientist before keying his radio

"Colonel Mitchell, sir, this is Major Evan Lorne of the Atlantis Expedition," Lorne said hurriedly. He then proceeded to rattle off his authentication code. "We need your help, sir. We're two hundred metres from the Stargate on board a Wraith Hive in lunar orbit, I'd love to tell you more, but it's a long story,"

"_It always is, ain't it? We're on our way,"_ the leader of SG-1 said candidly.

--

Back in Earth's upper atmosphere, the F-302 forces had expended their missiles, and had closed the range on the darts, whose numbers were now depleting very rapidly.

"_Charlie Three, you got one on your six, break right,"_

Charlie Three dove out of the way of the pursuing Dart, allowing his wing-man to finish it off with a burst from his cannon.

"_Springs, Charlie Lead. How many more?" _the leader asked the SGC.

"_Lead, Springs, we read ten bandits, repeat one-zero bandits in your area," _Colonel Davis reported.

The situation room was tense but focussed. So far the Wraith attack had been contained thanks to the depth of defences over the area, but it wouldn't take much to break through the overtaxed Charlie flight, who were running low on fuel and munitions.

Carter watched as the last red blips disappeared, one-by-one, from the tactical display.

"Charlie Flight, this is General Carter. Good job, that's the last of that wave. Return to base for re-armament," she ordered over the radio, before settling into her chair.

She knew that the attack had only just begun, and that both sides were drawing breath, readying for the other's next move.

--

Well, battle is joined. Thankfully the F-302 pilots weren't complete fools this time around, and the world's most sensitive military base actually has some surface-based defences! That part of the episode rather irked me, to say the least. AIM-120N is the designation I made up for the naquadah-enhanced missiles carried by the F-302s.

Reviews always appreciated. Hope everyone is enjoying it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 7**

**Hive Ship, Selenocentric orbit**

The commander watched, impassive, as the last of the Dart wave was eliminated by the human craft.

"These humans offer us a challenge! Launch another wave of Darts, and send two of the cruisers down to sow fear amongst them!" he said silkily.

Yet more Darts shot out of the hangar bays, uncaring about the slaughter that the USAF had inflicted on their brethren. It would take them some time to get to the planet, but this time they had backup. Two holes had opened slowly in the ventral hull of the hive, and two cruisers descended slowly out of their hangars. At a snarl from the commander, the cruisers flared their engines. Their target was not the troublesome human base in the desert, but the densely populated areas on the islands just off the other large continent of the planet.

**Stargate Command Situation Room**

"New contacts!" one of the airmen reported. Sure enough, there was another swarm of Darts _en route_ to Nevada, but Carter was more interested in the other contacts.

"Are those cruisers, airman?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am. They are not on the same course as the Darts. They appear to be aiming for an orbital insertion," the man said.

"Plot their course and predicted orbit on the viewer," Carter ordered.

"What have you got in mind?" Davis asked, as thin red trails sprang out from the cruisers, wrapping themselves around the planet.

"The Wraith aren't like the Goa'uld, Colonel. They don't want to wipe us out, they're far worse than that. They'll aim for populated areas first," she said. To reinforce her point, she pointed at the holographic Earth.

"Their orbital tracks pass over the most densely populated areas on Earth. The first one is aiming for Western Europe, and the other is headed for the Far East, I would think," she continued. After a pause of about a second, she spoke again.

"Get me Air Chief Marshal Stirrup, Général d'armée Georgelin and General Chen on a conference call," she ordered the communications officer, referring to the chiefs of the British, French and Chinese militaries, "Copy in their Russian, Japanese and Australian counterparts while you're at it,"

"Yes ma'am, contacting London, Paris and Beijing now," the airwoman said.

"Thank you. Colonel Davis, status on the Darts and our F-302s?"

"The Darts are closing in on the atmosphere, and Echo Flight is scrambling as we speak. Charlie Flight is re-arming and will follow in about ten minutes," the colonel said, with a phone pressed to his ear. "Nellis is scrambling more of their F-22s, and we're limiting commercial air traffic over Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The President and President-elect are on their way here in a Jumper, and Air National Guard units are on hot standby nationwide. The news channels are picking up on the contrails from the first battle above Nevada. We're telling them that it's a training exercise, but suspicion is only going to grow,"

"Thanks, colonel. As if we didn't have enough to deal with," Sam said.

"General Carter, I've established the conference call," the comms airwoman said. Carter nodded and crossed to the relevant screen. Three faces winked into existence, each with varying expressions of concern.

"Thank you for you time, sirs. I assume that you've been watching your sensor downlinks?" she said. The generals nodded, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, professional head of the UK armed forces, spoke first.

"Indeed we have, General. So far you seem to be doing admirably in defending Area 51. As far as our own defences go, the captains of our naval assets around the world are opening sealed orders right now which authorise deployment of surface-to-orbit missiles, and we have the Trident submarines on standby. I'm not at liberty to discuss the submarines' location, of course. The RAF are deploying F-302 and Eurofighter. Our Russian friends have been kind enough to 'provoke' us with a few Bears as an excuse," he said smoothly.

The EU and Russia had been having great fun over the last few years rattling the sabre at each other, when in reality they had been working ever more closely as a result of the IOA and Stargate program.

"Our preparations are taking a similar line to those of our English friends," General Georgelin, French Chief of Staff, said. "We too are also liasing with Berlin and Moscow. Tell me, General Carter, are these cruisers also augmented in a similar manner to their mothership?"

"No sir, not as far as we can tell. They appear to be quite standard, and will be easily defeated by a few Trident missiles or F-302-launched nuclear missiles," she said. "We think that they'll aim for the densely populated areas of your countries and that they'll also be launching Darts to intercept an F-302 attack,"

"That is in line with our assessment," General Chen said. "Our defences are concentrated around the major cities in the east of the country, and near Hong Kong,"

"A wise move. We expect the Wraith to attack along a crescent running from Birmingham to London, and across the Channel to Belgium, the Netherlands and the Ruhr," Stirrup said. "General Chen, might I suggest that you have some assets on standby to intercept an attack on India? They do not yet have an F-302 force, and their country is just as densely populated as yours,"

"You are correct, Air Chief Marshal, and steps have been taken to such an end. I believe that the Russians have also offered their assistance to Delhi and Tokyo, so we do have a good depth of defence across major areas of the planet," Chen said.

"Thank you, sirs, for your cooperation. Good luck to you all," Carter said. Davis tapped on her shoulder, indicating the sensor display and the imminent interception of the Dart attack. "Apologies sirs, but I must coordinate our defence against the next wave,"

The three generals disappeared, and Carter exhaled slightly. General or not, she found talking to the chiefs of three nations' armed forces intimidating.

--

On the hive, the Atlantis team was waiting nervously for the SG teams to catch them up. They had managed to clear the immediate area of Wraith, but they were giving up their advantage with every second they were in one place. McKay heard a noise in the corridor beyond, and stepped round the corner, raising his weapon.

The Canadian scientist was greeted with a dozen P90s pointed at his face, held by serious-looking SG teams 1, 3 and 8. Colonel Mitchell stepped forward, as Lorne appeared behind McKay with a look of relief on his face.

"Hey fellas," Mitchell said. "I sure don't like the decoration tastes of these guys. I see you've been helpin' them out with some grenades,"

"Yes sir. Doctor McKay here," Lorne indicated Rodney, who gave a small wave, which the dark-haired woman on SG-1, Vala, actually returned, "is helping us to steal the ZPMs that are powering this ship,"

"Well, we can sure help out with that. The diet of Ori insurgents is getting kinda samey, right guys?" Mitchell said, to a nonchalant shrug from Daniel and a imperceptible smile from Teal'c.

"We'd like to get moving as soon as possible, the ZPMs are over a kilometre away," Lorne said.

"Lead on, Major," the leader of SG-1 said amiably, checking his weapon and following as the Atlantis team took off down the corridor. Rodney soon found himself alongside Daniel and Vala, who looked particularly unhappy at the prospect of another two kilometres of walking and running under fire.

"So, together again, huh?" Rodney said to Daniel.

"Yeah, because it all went so well last time we worked together," Daniel said.

"Alright, Mister Sarcastic, I'm sure we'll do better this time," Rodney said. Almost immediately gunfire sounded up ahead.

"Well, Doctor McKay, your timing is just as bad as Daniel's," Vala said, amused, as she hefted her weapon and rushed forward to help the others. Daniel and Rodney could only look at each other and shrug before joining her.

* * *

In the skies over Nevada, Wraith Darts were once more battling F-302s from Area 51. Echo Flight was having a more difficult time than Charlie Flight had before, as the Wraith were wising up to some of their moves. Two 302s had been hit and had returned to base, and one had been destroyed outright, although the pilots had ejected.

Echo Lead swooped in behind a Dart, and blasted it with his cannon, immediately rolling to avoid the debris. His radar registered no immediate threats.

"Springs, Echo Lead. Where have they all gone?" he asked.

"_Echo Lead, Springs. They've given up on the base and are heading for California in groups towards San Fransisco and LA. Charlie Flight are intercepting at five-zero thousand feet, can you assist?"_

"Roger, can do. Going to max burn now," Echo Lead said. The rest of the flight had heard the conversation, and were already on their way to intercept in pairs.

They shot through the stratosphere at many times the speed of sound, bearing down on the alien craft that threatened the two major cities of the West Coast. They were just outside interception range when they received another message from Springs.

"_Echo Flight, be advised that two cruisers are entering orbit above East Asia and Western Europe. Be prepared to make an orbital injection burn to intercept. If interception is ordered, you are cleared by November Charlie Alpha to use nuclear weapons. Echo Leader, do you copy that?"_ the clipped voice said. The President had authorised the use of their nuclear-tipped missiles against capital ships in orbit. _This is getting serious_, Echo Leader thought.

"Echo Leader copies November Charlie Alpha authorisation for nuclear strike against orbital targets," the Major flying as Echo Leader said. "Intercepting bandits over California now," he added.

"_Be advised that foreign Foxtrot three-zero-two assets will be engaging the orbital targets designated Alpha and Beta. Springs out,"_

The course of the conversation had brought the squadrons of F-302s in range of the Darts, and ripples of missile and energy fire lashed out from the USAF fighters, eliminating most of the Wraith ships. Two of them were left, and rolled over and started making directly for the centre of Los Angeles.

_"All Echo and Charlie units intercept those stragglers immediately!"_ the leader of Charlie flight ordered from ten thousand feet below.

The F-302s immediately flicked on their rocket boosters and closed the range on the pair of Darts. Luckily the city was obscured by thick smog at about 1,000 feet, but there were a number of commercial aircraft in the area. Those Darts needed to be splashed immediately. The two flights of F-302s locked their cannon on to the intruders almost simultaneously, and the two alien ships were vaporised by a storm of blue energy.

Echo Leader breathed a sigh of relief and pulled back on his stick, making for the safety and anonymity of the upper atmosphere. He had barely taken stock of the situation when Springs came over his radio again.

"_Charlie and Echo flights, congratulations. Move to orbital burn profile for interception on supplied parameters,"_ the voice said. The navigational screens of the fighters flashed as they received new instructions. The pilots continued their ascent into the upper atmosphere, and once above 50,000 feet, they switched to computer control for the precise flight paths needed to intercept the Wraith cruiser above eastern Asia.

--

Thanks to the abilities of the F-302s, they were in space in only a few moments, and crossed the Pacific in a few minutes. Their scopes lit up, showing one large red enemy contact and several groups of smaller red dots being hounded by dozens of small blue contacts.

_"Charlie, Echo, prepare to engage. Use of nuclear weapons authorised, but be careful to avoid Blue-on-Blue,"_ Charlie Leader ordered. The US had enough of a bad reputation for being trigger-happy on Earth, and the pilots of the USAF's Starfighter Command had no wish to let that reputation spread beyond the atmosphere.

The engagement seemed to be quite stagnant. Russian and Chinese 302s were being kept at bay by Darts and point-defence fire from the cruiser. There were a number of American squadrons from Guam coming up to join the flights from Nevada, and so far the Wraith had not spotted either group. A ripe time for engagement, Echo Leader thought.

"All Foxtrot three-zero-two units, Echo Leader is engaging enemy capital ship with nuclear weapons," he said. His back-seater started the procedures to arm and target the missile. Both officers entered their authorization codes, and waited for the other units to acknowledge. A flurry of _"Roger, standing by,"_ calls came through his headset in variously accented English. Echo Leader's finger was poised over the firing button, and he was halfway though saying "Fox-Two" when a series of yellow blobs raced past his craft faster than his eye could track into the cruiser, causing a chain of secondary explosions to consume the Wraith ship.

The F-302 pilots were at a loss, until a new voice came over the radio.

"_This is Colonel John Sheppard of the Earth starship Enterprise,"_ the voice said as a huge Ancient warship floated by above Echo Flight. _"How can we be of assistance?"

* * *

  
_

Yet another chapter. I'm finding that this story is quite good fun to write!

Reviews appreciated as always.


	8. Chapter 8

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 8**

**

* * *

****Aurora-class vessel _Enterprise_**

"This is Colonel John Sheppard of the Earth starship _Enterprise_," John called out over the radio. "How can we be of assistance?"

There were smiles all round on the spacious bridge of the _Enterprise_. They had been running at max hyperdrive speed for hours, and the geeks had been channelling most of the power from the three ZPMs on board to the drive. The _Daedalus_ had emerged about ten seconds after Sheppard and his motley crew and were going to intercept the other cruiser that was now attempting to de-orbit over Europe.

It wasn't long before Sheppard got a reply from one of the F-302 pilots.

"_Enterprise, Echo Leader. Thanks for the assist, but we had everything under control,"_

The voice was clipped and emotionless as usual, but Sheppard could tell that the pilot, a veteran of the Battle for Antarctica, and an old friend of the senior Atlantis officer, was grinning widely.

"Is that the voice of Major Dave Franks I hear?" Sheppard asked, "Anyway, drones are that bit more stylish than boring old nukes. I'll see you in the bar later buddy, it's time to call the brass. Sheppard out,"

* * *

**Stargate Command**

President Henry Hayes and his successor, President-elect Barack Obama, were just walking into the Den as the two ships had dropped out of hyperspace, and the former senator from Illinois instinctively ducked as a holographic Aurora flew straight at his head like a bullet.

"That's a warm welcome, General Carter," he said as they shook hands. "I see that the situation has changed somewhat since you briefed us,"

"Yes sir, we were expecting Atlantis to be acting as a carrier for the two ships you see here," Carter said, gesturing to the display, which was now showing RAF and French F-302s beating the _Daedalus_ to the second cruiser kill.

Colonel Davis leant over Sam's shoulder and whispered a few words.

"I believe that Colonel Sheppard wishes to make a report," she said.

Sure enough, after a few beats a holographic figure of Sheppard shimmered into existence in the room. It looked around, noting Hayes and Obama with a slightly confused expression before spotting Carter.

"_Sirs, ma'am,"_ he said to the trio.

"Hello John, that was good timing from you. What happened to Atlantis?" Carter asked.

"_They had a spot of hyperdrive trouble at the outer rim of the Milky Way. McKay was in the middle of fixing it when we left,"_ Sheppard said, his image flickering slightly. _"As far as I know, they re-entered hyperspace shortly afterwards. I also know that Woolsey was going to dial you up and check in before he left,"_

"We've not heard anything from them. In fact, our Stargate has been inoperational since the hive arrived," Carter said.

"_Well, that's too bad. We're here now, so this party can kick up a gear. The hive is in lunar orbit, do you want us to go after them?"_ the colonel said.

Carter wanted to exercise a touch of caution.

"Hold station between us and the Moon. I want the F-302s to be ready for another sortie before we try anything more. Do you have a strategy for taking out the hive?" she asked.

"_We're powered by 3 ZPMs at the moment, Caldwell's got one too, so we can go a few more rounds in the ring with the bad guys. The idea is for the Daedalus to close in and try and wear their armour down with nukes and beams, while we maintain distance and try and destroy their weapons and Dart bays with drones,"_ Sheppard explained.

"I think I can help you out there, Colonel," Carter said. "Doctor Lee is finishing up a program that should let you control the Antarctic drones from up there. It's designed for Atlantis, but I can get Bill to adapt it for you,"

"_Hey, whoever said no to more firepower?"_ the colonel asked rhetorically. _"I see that the F-302s are re-entering the atmosphere now. Anything you want us to do in the meantime?"_

"No thank you, John. Just sit tight for the moment," Carter ordered. Little did she know that it would literally be only a moment...

* * *

The strike force on the hive was still making their way to their various prizes. McKay had guided them around a number of bottlenecks, and there was a long trail of dead Wraith leading right back to the gate to testify to their progress. The force was methodically crossing an intersection of corridors when the background noise of the hive suddenly increased in pitch and volume, and they felt a rumbling under their feet.

"What's goin' on, Doc?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know for sure, but I'd guess they've ignited their sublight engines and are moving somewhere," the Canadian physicist said urgently.

"They may be moving towards the planet for an attack," Teal'c said gravely, shoving a new magazine into each of his P90s.

"Right. I don't want to let them get that far. Doc, how far?" the SG-1 leader asked.

"Real close!" Rodney said, as Wraith stunner fire ripped past them. Teal'c spun with the grace of a practised warrior, and unloaded a burst from both of his weapons into the Wraith that had been foolish enough to approach.

"I believe now is the time to depart this location," he said with the faintest hint of urgency.

The humans didn't need telling twice. The two Spetsnaz men at point nodded and forced their way into the next corridor, firing occasional bursts to cover the others as they rushed through. Ronon and Teal'c took over the lead, and worked together to devastating effectiveness in clearing the way. Teal'c striding calmly along, dropping any enemy that appeared with a prolonged burst of fire. Ronon was far edgier, and dropped Wraith with single shots from his Traveller energy pistol.

With the Jaffa and the Satedan in the lead, they soon arrived at a closed door that would not open, despite McKay's best efforts.

"I'm fairly sure that the ZPMs are somewhere in the inner sanctum behind these doors. I'm not sure of it's layout, though," he said, withdrawing the data probe from the wall. Lorne nodded. He thought that things had been too easy so far.

"Anyone got C4?" he asked of the SGC personnel. Major Peterson of SG-3 stepped forwards with two bricks and a remote detonator, the latter of which he tossed to Mitchell with a feral grin before affixing the explosives to the door. The team retreated to a safe distance, and prepared to rush the door after the explosives blew.

"Ready?" Mitchell asked of everyone. Without waiting for an answer, he punched in his code, paused to say "Fire in the hole," and flipped the switch. A thump shook the deck beneath them, and the team sprinted back down the corridor to take advantage of the element of surprise.

* * *

**Stargate Command**

Back in the Den, the Asgard sensors picked up on the movement of the Hive almost instantly. The glowing red dot looked very innocuous, but in reality, a thirteen kilometre long ship brimming with hungry Wraith was now bearing down on Earth.

"Time until they reach orbit?" Carter asked quietly.

"Not long at all, ma'am. _Daedalus_ and _Enterprise _are requesting permission to intercept," the duty airman reported.

"Give them the go. I don't want that Hive entering orbit above this planet!" she said, the edge audible in her voice.

Many hundreds of miles above, on the bridge of the _Daedalus_, Caldwell was taking stock of the situation. He typed a heading into the computer.

"Engage sublight engines, max burn along the supplied vector on my mark," he said.

"General Carter has cleared us to engage," the communications officer reported. Caldwell needed no time to wait.

"Light 'em up," Caldwell ordered. The sublight engines flared, sending the ship out of Earth orbit and flinging it once more towards the Hive. On the opposite side of the planet, Sheppard was doing the same.

"Round two just begun, people," Caldwell said confidently, settling in his chair, "and this time, the gloves are off. Fire a salvo of Mark Eights when in range," he said.

The Apollo craft of the Sixties and Seventies had taken days to cover the distance between the Earth and Moon. Forty years later, the technology employed by the ships facing off over the blue-green planet below enabled the same journey to be made in minutes, and with a far more deadly intent. Fifty seconds after igniting the sublight engines, the closing velocities of the ships meant that the holographic cursor on the _Daedalus_'s bridge window that marked the enemy ship started flashing a deep scarlet.

"Fire," Caldwell ordered. Three Mark Eights shot out from the Tau'ri ship, and the datalink from the _Enterprise_ showed that Sheppard had let loose a cloud of drones. The shields of both ships flared brilliant, electric blue as the Hive's deadly weapons fire struck home. Thankfully, damage was slight, limited to a few shakes, as the shield systems had vast power reserves to draw upon thanks to the ZPM.

Major Marks counted down the seconds to impact.

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One."

"Mark." he said, as the various explosives detonated.

* * *

On board the Hive, the strike force had split up into pairs and was sweeping the heavily-guarded area in which Rodney had detected the ZPMs. The Canadian's sensors were nearly useless in locating the devices now because of their extreme proximity.

However, that was the least of their problems. The teams looked up warily as several strong vibrations were felt, and then promptly knocked off their feet as the nuclear missiles struck home against the hull armour, causing massive tremors throughout the Hive.

Teal'c was the first to rise, helping a dazed Colonel Mitchell to his feet.

"It would appear that Colonel Caldwell has arrived," he said with a hint of amusement. When Mitchell did not respond, he shook the colonel firmly, who blinked several times.

"OK Teal'c, I got it, thanks," he said before calling out on the radio.

"All teams, what is your status?"

"_This is Daniel. Vala and I are fine,"_

"_Ronon and I are unharmed,"_ Teyla said.

"_Smith and Peterson ready,"_

"_Lorne and McKay, standing by,"_

Mitchell blinked several times to clear his head whilst the rest of reports came in. Once everyone had done so, he addressed the main order of business.

"Anyone got anything interesting?" he asked, to a chorus of negative replies.

"_Lorne here, nothing as ye-"_ the major said, before pausing. _"Hang on. We've just entered a large chamber. McKay's looking with some interest at the walls,"_

Mitchell checked his DF indicator.

"Hold tight, we're on our way,"

* * *

"First attack moderately successful," Marks reported. "Volume of incoming fire has decreased, but the enemy is about to enter LEO,"

"Damn. Bring us around for an attack on their sublights," Caldwell said.

The _Daedalus_ skimmed the surface of the Hive at high speed, so that the enemy guns would have great trouble tracking them. As they passed over the rear of the ship, the communications officer spoke up.

"Sir, we're picking up radio chatter emanating from inside the enemy ship," he said, focusing intently on his screens. "It's carrying standard SGC encryption,"

"Can you contact them?" Caldwell asked. "I wouldn't want to blow up our own guys along with this sucker,"

"No need sir, they're contacting us. The signal carries Colonel Mitchell's authorization code," the man reported.

"_I assume that we have Colonels Caldwell and Sheppard to thank for all the shaking here that's making it rather difficult to carry out our mission,"_ Cameron said, irritated.

"The enemy is in Earth orbit, Colonel. What else are we to do?"

"_Well, you could wait for us to find and pull their ZPMs,"_

"We didn't know about that plan. Who is with you and how the hell did you get on board the enemy ship?"

"_I've got SG teams 1, 3 and 8, along with Atlantis teams 1, 2 and 3. We got on board by means of a Stargate that these bastards stole from somewhere in Pegasus,"_

"We can't let up in the attack, Colonel. Doctor Lee and Colonel Sheppard are preparing to fire the Antarctic drone platform,"

"_Like I said, give us a few minutes to pull their ZPMs and this ship won't be a problem any more,"_

"Very well. We'll disengage and pull back, but we're going to attack again in five minutes, ready or not,"

"_Plenty of time. Mitchell out,"_

The two Earth ships pulled back from the hive, which sensed an opportunity to strike. Both ships were sprayed with fire, and alarms started sounding across the bridge of the _Enterprise_. Colonel Sheppard seemed unperturbed.

"Don't worry, people. It's just the auxiliary sensor pallets," he said, mentally switching the alarms off as they shot away from the Hive.

A message nagged at the edge of his awareness.

"_Colonel Sheppard, why are you disengaging?"_ Samantha Carter's voice was more urgent than Sheppard had ever heard it.

"About a dozen of our guys and another dozen of yours are on board the enemy ship, trying to sabotage," he said across the airwaves. "We're giving them five minutes,"

"_You'd better be right about this," _she said. Sheppard wondered if the President was till there. _What the hell_, he thought.

"We'll be fine, ma'am. Sheppard out," he said curtly.

* * *

Back on board the Hive, the Tau'ri soldiers were combing every inch of the large room for the ZPMs. Teyla was in the centre of the room, reaching out with her ability to read Wraith technology. Her mind noticed four crystalline masses in the walls.

"I believe that I have located the Zero Point Modules," she called. "They are in the walls at right angles from each other,"

The Athosian gestured at four points, and small groups flocked to each one. Knives were used to slice into the walls, and eventually the power sources had been found.

Mitchell didn't want to waste time.

"Pull 'em out on my mark! Three, two, one, mark!" he shouted. Several strong pairs of hands grasped each ZPM and pulled, and with a sickening series of squelching sounds, they were extracted. Rodney immediately grabbed each of them and put them in his pack, but the others were warily scanning the area.

"Why are the lights still on?" Ronon asked gruffly, drawing his weapon.

"I don't know! Maybe they have a more efficient power grid than I thought, or they have a large net of capacitors. Either way, we don't want to stick around!" he exclaimed, as the room gave an almighty rumble.

"No kidding! Lets move!" Mitchell shouted, and the strike force ran out of the room, retracing their steps back to the Stargate, as many more creaks and rumbles spread though the oversized ship.

* * *

"Energy readings from the Hive have dropped like a stone, sir," Marks reported.

"Yet they're still firing. Why?" Caldwell asked.

"Best guess, they've got banks of capacitors for each weapon. They've lost most of their other systems, but they're still got weapons," the dependable Major said.

"Get Sheppard back over. Can we get a lock on our people?"

"No sir, they're still jamming us,"

"They're operating at lower power now, can't you burn through the interference?"

"No sir, we're not getting any locators or human lifesigns. The hull is just too dense," Marks said.

--

The battle continued afresh after the brief hiatus. The hive was now much more vulnerable, as the tensor fields that maintained the hull's rigidity were gone. The hive still packed a mighty punch, with concentrated fire still lashing out and splashing against the ZPM-boosted shields of the _Daedalus_ and _Enterprise_. Caldwell was well aware that the Hive still had it's original Wraith power sources on board, and so could still maintain limited fighting ability.  
The commanders of both Earth ships were planning their next steps, and reverted to stand-off tactics, throwing limited weapons fire from long range to keep the hive's attention away from the planet below. After about ten minutes of this, Sheppard was wondering how long the Hive would take before it died, when the sensors picked up major changes in the ventral structure of the enemy's hull.

"_Daedalus_, it looks like something's happening. The might be pulling a trick on us. Standby," he said.  
He did not have to wait long for an answer. A lone cruiser accelerated down from the main hive, directly into the upper atmosphere, barely missing the floundering _Daedalus_, and heading for the Japanese Home Islands that were almost directly below.

* * *

Dun-dun-duun...a cliffhanger!

I very much appreciate the positive comments for this. Particular thanks to andrewjameswilliams for reminding me of the structural issues that the hive would face once stripped of it's ZPMs.

We're building up to the big finale, and _almost_ all of the pieces are in place...


	9. Chapter 9

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

A/N: G Halsey, you're correct with the number of ZPMs. I guess it's slightly excessive, but Todd has been stockpiling the things...

Regarding the strike force's weaponry, I'm assuming that the Russians would be using AK-74s, the USMC with M4 carbines and the Brits would be using SA80 (or L85A2 to be more precise). I think that the SG producers picked the P90 for the show because it looks unusual and has a big magazine, so the Yanks can spray away to their heart's content! I'm no expert on weapons, though, but I do know that the P90 is a PDW, intended for vehicle crews, and possibly more suited to teams (like SG-1 and Sheppard's team) that are not just combat-oriented and have a diplomatic role.

I was a bit unclear on this a few chapters ago, I might go and tidy it up at some point.

**Chapter 9**

**USS _Daedalus_, Low Earth Orbit**

Colonel Caldwell flinched slightly as the cruiser shot past them.

"What the hell? Plot a pursuit course!" he ordered. "Sheppard should be able to handle the hive,"

The helmsman flicked a few switches on his panel and pulled back on his control sticks, slewing the ship through all three axes simultaneously. The stars and the moon whizzed across the window, which settled once south-eastern Asia came into view, with the ship flying backwards. Then, all ten of the sublight engines ignited at emergency thrust, quickly scrubbing away the reverse motion. After the briefest of pauses, the ship accelerated down towards the Earth in pursuit, leading to the shields glowing gold with the force of atmospheric entry after a few seconds.

"Sensors, are you tracking the cruiser?" Caldwell asked, as the ship started to vibrate slightly.

"Negative, sir. Sensors are being scattered due to the heat flux on the shields. The flux will dissipate in thirty seconds, once we've slowed to a more reasonable airspeed," the officer said, twiddling dials on his board.

"Let's hope that we have those thirty seconds to play with," Caldwell said.

* * *

While _Daedalus_ was incommunicado during the atmospheric entry, all hell had broken loose in orbit. The Hive had switched it's full attention to the _Enterprise_, which was hampered by not being able to return fire at maximum power. Occasional blasts struck the Wraith ship courtesy of the secondary pulse weapons, and the situation was driving Sheppard mad with impatience.

"C'mon guys, get the hell out of there," he said over the radio. "We haven't got all day before the hive gets bored with us and starts taking pot-shots at Earth."

Things were just as hectic on the hive.

"Thanks John, we're going as fast as we can!" Rodney said irritatedly. "I don't suppose that Caldwell could pluck us out?" he asked.

"_Sorry, buddy, Caldwell's busy at the mom-"_ The radio went dead.

"John?" Rodney shouted down the radio.

"_Holy shit! Going to max thrust now!"_

"Colonel Sheppard, sir, what's your status?" Lorne asked. The crew continued running down corridors. They were meeting very little resistance. Lorne thought it was either down to the ship's crew being too busy to worry about them, or that they were plotting an ambush. Lorne would've preferred the former, but experience of offworld ops suggested otherwise.

* * *

Sheppard's moment of panic was triggered by the opening of a massive new hyperspace window. The colonel, being well-practised at predicting the worst-case scenario, thought it was another hiveship. Accordingly, he was immensely relieved to see the familiar shape of Atlantis, but less pleased to see that it was heading right for the _Enterprise_ at high speed.

John ignited the sublights, and the Aurora-class ship leapt out of the way of the three-mile wide city.

"_Apologies for the delay, Colonel Sheppard,"_ Woolsey said. _"We are engaging the enemy now,"_

"Richard, wait!" Sheppard said urgently. "Lorne's strike force is still on board. We're keeping the hive's attention away from Earth until they gate out, then we're going to remotely fire the Antarctic weapons. Caldwell is dealing with a cruiser that entered the atmosphere. Oh, and by the way, please don't scare us like that!"

"_Again, apologies, Colonel. Doctor Beckett is apparently not finding the job of flying the city easy,"_ Woolsey said.

"He'll be fine once he gets to fire the drones, he's good at that," Sheppard commented dryly.

"_I can bloody well hear you, you know!"_ said Scotsman replied in a strained voice. The hive had noticed the new arrival, and energy bolts were slamming into the city's shield.

Sheppard regarded the scene thoughtfully using both eyes and sensors. Mentally, he commanded the hologram system to project into the SGC Situation Room.

* * *

In the situation room, Samantha Carter was frantically liaising with senior officers from the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force and US Forces Japan. The sensors had located the cruiser moving at transonic velocities across the Western Pacific towards Tokyo, and a large IR signature far above that was the _Daedalus, _which would soon complete atmospheric entry.

"John, I'm busy," she said as the hologram appeared. Holo-Sheppard looked around at the activity quickly.

"_I see that. General, the hive is posing us a conundrum. It's still firing at us and Atlantis and the energy readings, while much lower than before, are still higher than that of a standard hiveship's reactor. It shouldn't still be functioning, but in fact, Atlantis's shield power is being depleted rather quickly,"_ he said.

Carter studied the sensor data from the hive, in particular the weapons outputs.

"They're shunting everything they've got to weapons and the tensor fields holding the hull together. I'd say they want to go out with a bang and take as many of us with them as possible," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, John, I need to concentrate on the cruiser,"

"_Yes ma'am. The geeks up here are nearly done with adapting your program, so when we get the go from Mitchell and Lorne we'll finish this. Sheppard out,"_

With that, the hologram of the colonel fizzled out.

* * *

On the _Daedalus_, the mood was tense as the glow faded from their shields, indicating that they had successfully transitioned to atmospheric flight. Caldwell wasted no time in searching for their prey.

"Location and vector of the enemy ship?" he asked. The sensor officer took only a few seconds to re-acquire the cruiser.

"Got him, sir. He is descending three-zero thousand feet, speed eight-zero-zero knots, heading zero-four-zero, currently north-east of the Philippines. Commercial traffic is being diverted by Taiwanese ATC," the officer reported.

"Good work. Helm, take us down to them. I want weapons-tight, no shooting unless explicitly ordered. Remember that we do not have Presidential clearance to use nuclear weaponry in-atmosphere, Marks," Caldwell ordered. Marks nodded, and pressed a few controls on his console. Now the ship could not fire it's nuclear missiles unless both he and Caldwell authorised it with their keys.

_The Daedalus _spiralled down through the atmosphere at supersonic speed in order to intercept the enemy ship, which was descending a a leisurely rate towards the Japanese capital city. Caldwell wanted to get closer before taking any action, as any stray shots from either ship could be disastrous in the relatively crowded skies of Earth. Caldwell drummed his fingers impatiently on his armrest. The clouds visible out of the bridge window spun around gently, as the helmsman kept the ship in as steep a spiral dive as he could manage without entering a spin.

* * *

Back in orbit, the situation was not ideal. Atlantis was not a warship by any stretch of the imagination, and the need to limit their return fire upon the hive was driving Woolsey mad. Almost as bad, the city's power reserves were being rapidly drained by the sporadic yet still powerful bursts of fire that were directed their way from the slowly dying hive.

In the chair room, Beckett was flying the city with advice being given by a _Daedalus _junior helmsman, who had been left behind when his ship had departed in haste.

"Carson! What is our power situation?" Doctor Zelenka asked of the Scottish doctor, who was sitting in the chair with his eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Not brilliant, there's a bit of a double whammy going on, their fire strikes the shield, draining the ZPMs, but it's also pushing us into the atmosphere, the effects of which will also drain the shield. Firing the engines to compensate is just as bad!" he cried.

Radek loosed a volley of bad-tempered Czech as he tapped away at his controls.

"There, I've diverted power from some unused systems in the outer edge of the city. How is it now?" the Czech scientist asked.

"Aye, that's better. But we've only a few more minutes, if that!"

Zelenka sighed and radioed Woolsey.

"Mr. Woolsey, Carson cannot keep this up for much longer. Our power reserves are dwindling rapidly!" he said.

"_Tell him to hold on. Lorne's force must evacuate before Sheppard can destroy the enemy," _their leader said briskly.

* * *

Said strike force was moving quickly and clearing the way back to the Stargate. The group was strung out now, protecting those who had the ZPMs in their packs.

At the back of the group, Lorne, Teyla and Ronon were guarding McKay, who was finding the going difficult, as he had not had the many years of military training and martial service that the rest of the force were now using.

"Uh, guys, I definitely need to take a breather," the Canadian said between heavy gasps as he stopped running.

"We are very near to the Stargate, Rodney. You can do this," Teyla said encouragingly.

As Ronon and Teyla helped McKay, Lorne keyed his radio.

"All personnel, this is Lorne. Alpha-Romeo-One and I are pausing to give Doctor McKay a few seconds to compose himself. Keep moving and secure the Stargate," he said.

The radio call was partly unnecessary, as the Russian Spetznaz and British SAS troopers, along with the US Marines of SG-3 had already reached the gate, and were sweeping the area with AK-74s , L85A2s and M4s, disposing of the few Wraith who were not frantically trying to repair the ship.

"_Stargate secured. We need Doctor McKay to reset the dialling device to Earth's address,"_ Colonel Reynolds reported.

Lorne turned his attention back to the Canadian astrophysicist, who was looking fractionally better.

"Ready, Doc?" he asked.

"I guess so. When we get back I'm going to sleep for a week," he said, grimacing.

"Great. Lead the way, Ronon," the USAF major ordered, and the run through the Hive continued.

After about fifty metres they came to a junction which they had traversed on their way in with no trouble.

This time, as they were crossing, Wraith sprinted out of the adjoining corridors, firing bursts of stun fire.

"AMBUSH!" Lorne yelled, and dove for cover. They all took positions, and pumped weapons fire into the oncoming enemy, most of whom were cut down within a few minutes.

However, when surrounded, it is difficult to keep track of enemy positions. One such enemy moved around a column to within a few feet of Ronon, who was dispatching a second Wraith who was gunning for McKay. With a swift stroke, the first Wraith drew his knife and plunged it into Ronon's side.

The Satedan's cry of rage and pain echoed through the halls of the ship, and he reached back and broke his attacker's neck before sinking to the floor, biting back his pain with short gasps.

"RONON!" Teyla shouted, crossing the short distance to the great warrior.

--

Reviews always appreciated.

I had a couple of cool VFX shots in mind while writing this, try and guess where...


	10. Chapter 10

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 10  
**

**Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan**

Higa Tomoe was tired. The economic troubles that had affected the Japanese economy had forced her employers to lower her wages, along with those of her husband, and her family's daily life had become rather strained. She had also been up all night along with most of the town, watching the strange, fire-like streaks that had come and gone several times high in the sky, along with several impossibly bright stars. Tomoe had thought that the streaks were comets, or shooting stars, but when some of them had started twisting and turning, the people were understandably perturbed, as such a thing was supposed to be impossible. Initially there was only one point of light, but that had been joined by a few dozen smaller others. The first point had flashed brightly and faded into nothing when a new, slightly elongated point appeared.

After that, they had seen nothing more for a few hours, and many had gone to bed, but the various bars in the town had a very profitable night as people discussed the events over bottles of sake and awamori. This was the reason for Tomoe's tiredness, as she had taken a job as a barmaid at the local establishment, and she had been run off her feet.

All of this was lost on her son, Ryoichi, who was currently tugging on her hand as she walked him down the road to school.

"Ryoichi, be calm! We take the same journey every day and you are always excited!" she said amusedly. The effervescent young boy kept tugging at her hand, and started pointing at the sky, chattering excitedly.

The young woman looked up to see a large contrail, similar to those from airliners. This one was different, as it was much larger than any she had seen before, and also moving very rapidly. She also saw a second trail following the first at a great distance.

Tomoe had barely any time to ponder the strange appearances before two deafeningly loud bangs shook the area, about ten seconds apart. People screamed, car alarms started blaring and several windows shattered. Tomoe instinctively sheltered Ryoichi, who was a bewildered as anyone. When the hubbub had died down slightly, she straightened up.

"What could that have been?" she asked of nobody in particular.

"It'll just be the American Air Force playing games, Higa-san," said one of the other mothers, as she checked her daughter. "Let us continue. It is nothing,"

Tomoe nodded, and gently cajoled Ryoichi in the direction of his school. She would very much have liked to have agreed with the woman, but she had a nagging feeling that important events were occurring.

* * *

On board the hiveship, the bigger picture was far from Rodney McKay's mind as he scrambled to Ronon's side.

"Ronon!" he exclaimed, fumbling for his first-aid kit. "Ronon! Where did he get you!" he asked hurriedly. He and Teyla were dimly aware of Lorne calling the others on the radio, as they bandaged Ronon's wound as tightly as they could. Throughout, the big Satedan was grimacing in pain. Rodney helped Teyla with the final knot and wiped his brow.

"How's that?" he asked. Teyla looked unsure.

"If we do not get him treated immediately he will not make it," she said.

"We're not far from the gate. The Janet Frasier hospital at the Alpha Site is probably the best in the galaxy," Rodney panted as he and Teyla hauled Ronon up between them.

"Evan, we need to get him out of here immediately!" Rodney said to Lorne, who nodded and followed them down the corridor, covering their rear in case any Wraith came along.

--

The wider space battle was also starting to get out of hand. The technicians on board the _Enterprise_ had finished preparing the remote firing command for the Antarctic drones, and now Sheppard was waiting on McKay's team to evacuate.

"Strike Force, this is Sheppard. When can we go weapons-free again?" he asked over the radio, as he watched the dying enemy ship continue, amazingly, to fire. The fire was mainly directed at Atlantis, which was now well below the plane of the battle.

"_Sheppard, this is Mitchell. We've run into a few problems, but we expect to be off this thing momentarily. We're waiting on your team to complete their retreat to the gate,"_ the leader of SG-1 reported.

Sheppard frowned. Atlantis didn't have that long, and the _Enterprise_ was starting to show problems, as it had been fighting continually for hours on a skeleton crew.

"Tell Rodney that I'm firing the Antarctic drones in five minutes. After they're fired, he's got one further minute until they hit. That should get him moving,"

"_Roger that,"_ came the drawling reply.

--

The _Daedalus_ was streaking across the Western Pacific at 20,000 feet and hot on the heels of the Wraith cruiser that was heading for Tokyo. Caldwell was heedless of the concern he had caused in his wake on Okinawa and many other Pacific islands. The Tau'ri fleet had strict standing orders from General O'Neill which prioritised defence over secrecy, and Caldwell hoped to preserve both today, but he would follow those orders.

"Range?" he snapped at Marks.

"One-five-zero miles, closing rapidly. Effective atmospheric beam weapon range is at one-zero-zero miles, and we are already within railgun range," the major reported.

"Don't wait. Take us to a lower altitude than the enemy and fire an alpha strike when ready," Caldwell ordered smartly.

The _Daedalus_'s Asgard beam weapons were not suited to in-atmosphere combat, as the air tended to attenuate the beam in atmospheric tests, so the long-range weapons were the railgun batteries, which were the more advanced brethren of those installed on Atlantis four years ago. The gun muzzles had been tracking on the enemy ship since the _Daedalus_ had completed re-entry. The firing command caused naquadah shells to be spat out hundreds of times per second at a dozen times the speed of sound, rates that a conventional rotary cannon simply could not match. The trajectory of the shells was governed by the advanced fire-control sensors on the Earth ship, and their accuracy was impressive.

The shells took moments to reach the cruiser, and ripped into the layers of armour protecting vital systems, but without causing critical damage. A few puffs of smoke and a brief gout of flame eruped from the cruiser.

Back on the bridge of the _Daedalus_, Caldwell was irked as the enemy stayed on course. Looking at the map, they had probably only one more chance to down the ship before it reached Tokyo. During the first salvo, they had closed to under 100 miles. Caldwell considered his next move.

"Fire another salvo from the railguns, have the beams on standby, on the maximum safe atmospheric yield. Fire," he said after a moment.

Once more, a storm of shells erupted from the railgun turrets, striking the cruiser.

"Damage?" asked Caldwell.

"We've got power fluctuations in their main grid," Marks said. "Cruiser is approaching Tokyo Bay. Should I fire beam weapons?"

"Affirmative," Caldwell said.

Marks squeezed the firing stud, and a bright blue beam lanced out, drilling into the cruiser. It smashed through armour, bulkhead and Wraith alike and struck the repulsor drive that was keeping the ship in the air. The cruiser started falling like a stone, trailing a stream of smoke and debris in a graceful arc down, through wispy clouds towards the waters of the mouth of Tokyo Bay.

"Communications, inform Stargate Command of the situation, and advise USFJ to close that area of sea off," Caldwell ordered. "Take us into the clouds, and if any Wraith lifesigns show up after impact, hit them with the railguns,"

--

In orbit, Richard Woolsey was regarding the nearest computer screen with great worry.

"Doctor Zelenka," he called over the radio, "how long would you estimate until the safety protocol kicks in?"

They had discovered that the systems that had affected them so much on the move to M35-117 were still in play. The shields would not fail completely, but once a certain level was reached, the city would start collapsing the shield around the central tower, and that would be fatal for the many people in the outer buildings, including Beckett and Zelenka in the chair room.

"_If the hiveship continues to fire at us, not long at all, Mr. Woolsey,"_ the Czech said in a strained voice. _"If Sheppard were to fire the drones now, we would be able to land and take the strain off of the ZPMs,"_

"Thank you, Doctor," the American bureaucrat said. He asked Banks to establish a link with the _Enterprise._

--

On the Aurora-class ship, Sheppard's metaphorical trigger fingers were getting itchy. He could see that Atlantis was going to have to disengage soon, and worse, several stray shots from the hiveship had hit the mid-Pacific Ocean. Sheppard was therefore relieved to hear Woolsey's voice.

"_Colonel, our situation is becoming untenable. I recommend that you fire immediately,"_ Atlantis's commander said tersely.

"I'll check in with SGC and the strike force first, then I'll gladly get rid of this damn thing," Sheppard said.

* * *

Colonel Caldwell watched as the Wraith cruiser spiralled down towards the sea, the _Daedalus_ following in a wide arc.

"Colonel, they appear to have got some form of control back, they're aiming for the Navy base at Yokosuka," Marks reported.

"When will this tenacious bastard get the message? Target him with beams again, maximum safe power," Caldwell ordered.

Once more, a bright blue beam lanced out from the Tau'ri ship and struck the wounded cruiser, causing even more grievous damage. The sublight engines overloaded and exploded, and the cruiser tumbled out of control at supersonic speeds. Fortunately for the people of Yokosuka City, the remnants of the cruiser missed the built-up areas and slammed into the Uraga Channel at one and a half times the speed of sound with a massive splash and a deep rumbling.

What remained of the ship was almost instantly fragmented as it hit the cold water, and the smaller pieces sunk almost immediately, carrying dozens of Wraith to their deaths. The largest piece bobbed back to the surface after a few seconds, and the people of Yokosuka would remember the haunting, shrieking cry of anguish and defeat that reached their ears for many years afterwards, as another blue beam struck the wreck, fragmenting it again.

* * *

The Earth personnel were all gathered around the DHD as McKay and Teyla staggered into the gate-chamber, dragging Ronon. Lorne ran in a few seconds later.

"Colonel Mitchell, sir, I'd recommend that we leave ASAP. We don't know how many more of them are out there," he said urgently.

Before Mitchell had a chance to respond, their radios crackled once more with the voice of John Sheppard.

"_Fellas, you need to get out of there. I'm firing the drones in ten seconds. After that, you have one minute until impact,"_ he said, almost crossly.

"John!" Rodney shouted (unnecessarily), "Don't! I need to recalibrate the DHD before we can go!"

"_I happen to know that it's not a big job, Rodney. Anyways, Atlantis is getting beat up pretty bad by your hosts, and I have Presidential orders. Just get your asses out of there. Sheppard out,"_

"Joh-" Rodney started, but was interrupted by Vala grabbing his arm and pointing at the DHD with a saintly smile on her face. "Right," he said, taking his tablet computer out of it's pack, and bending down to the small crystal tray at the base of the pedestal.

"Sheppard, this is Mitchell. McKay's on it. You may fire when ready," SG-1's leader said.

"_With pleasure,"_ the captain of the _Enterprise_ said.

Mitchell turned from his team to McKay.

"Now would be a good time to hurry this up, Doc," he said, clapping the Canadian on the back. Unusually, Rodney didn't look up whilst spouting his technobabble.

"It's OK, luckily I had the foresight to pre-program most of this before we left Pegasus. It's simply a case of pointing the DHD's circuits to the preset locations in space that are symbolised by the gate glyphs of this galaxy," he said, tapping away at his computer. He tweaked a few of the crystals in their slots, saying, "That's almost done, aand..." a few more taps, "That should do it!" he said, pressing the final execute command.

The DHD and the Stargate went dark.

"Uh, Rodney, are you sure that's right?" Daniel asked, with a small gesture at the Stargate. "I only ask because we have less than thirty seconds,"

Rodney fixed the archaeologist with a glare.

"Ookay, I'll let you work," he said sheepishly. Rodney ignored him and tapped a few more controls. The gate and DHD lit up once more with a clanging noise.

"Oh, I am _so_ glad that worked," Rodney said, eyeing the Milky Way symbols that had appeared on the gate. He turned back to the tablet.

"Sending the dial command now," he said, an edge of panic in his voice. The team gathered to each side of the gate, ready to run through as soon as the Alpha Site personnel opened their iris.

As McKay sent the command, seven symbols lit up on the DHD in rapid succession, and Rodney pressed the blue 'activate' button.

They were rewarded with the familiar sight of an unstable vortex collapsing in on itself to leave the rippling blue of the event horizon.

"Alpha Site, this is Colonel Mitchell of SG-1 requesting immediate Code Red clearance! We have wounded!" he said urgently.

"Ten seconds!" Daniel shouted. McKay pulled the various leads out of the DHD and moved to stand next to the others by the wormhole.

"_This is Alpha Site control. Colonel Mitchell, you are clear,"_ a voice said as the ship started shuddering around them. The first drones had struck.

Mitchell wasted no time.

"MOVE! Now!" he shouted, pushing people into the event horizon before, along with Teal'c, grabbing Ronon and staggering backwards into the Stargate as flame fushed towards them...

* * *

The view from the expansive bridge window of the _Enterprise_ was almost beautiful. Long, thin strands of drones were punching through the enemy's armour and crumpling the hive's structure like paper. Yet more drones circled back around after exiting the hive.

After about five seconds of final carnage, the hiveship shattered into millions of pieces, accompanied by a small gout of flame that quickly extinguished itself in the vacuum of space.

Sheppard opened his eyes, and sat back in the chair, exhaling slowly as he regarded the scene. He ignored the whooping and cheering of the techs with him, and activated communications once more.

"Atlantis, this is Sheppard, do you copy?"

* * *

The elimination of the hive was registered by the sophisticated sensors at Stargate Command, and a collective sigh of relief went around the room.

"Excellent work, General," Hayes said. He regarded the holographic display carefully. "Where's Atlantis?" he asked carefully.

"What?" Carter asked tiredly. She crossed to the sensor and communication techs and conversed quietly with them before straightening up.

"We don't know. The city was in a failing orbit, they might have decided to make a controlled re-entry," she said to the current and future Commanders-in-Chief, who had been watching the whole thing. "Apparently the _Daedalus_ has just shot down the cruiser that was making for Tokyo. The Navy have peppered the wreck with torpedoes to make sure that no Wraith survived, and Colonel Caldwell is heading back up to rendez-vous with the _Enterprise,_" she said, trying not to think about the hundreds of lives that were at stake on Atlantis.

"General, ma'am, we think that the city will splash down somewhere in the Northern Atlantic, according to the last track we had of them," Davis supplied quietly. "The British and French navies are on the lookout,"

"Thank you, Paul. I'll go and check on the Stargate. It should be working now," she said, before exiting the room.

--

**Alpha Site, Milky Way**

"Close the iris!" Mitchell yelled as he and Teal'c carried Ronon out of the Stargate.

Instantly, the familiar leaf shutters closed across the event horizon. A deep bang echoed through the room as the hive's gate was destroyed, and the Alpha Site's gate disengaged.

"Good job, Doc, I like your timing," the colonel said to McKay, as they helped the medical team put Ronon onto a trolley.

"Yeah, lets hope we got him out in time," the Canadian said, watching as the doctors rushed out. "Everyone OK?" he asked of the assembly gathered in the Alpha Site's gateroom. Receiving tired nods all round, he started towards the exit.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be sleeping, preferably for a week," he said.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 11**

**Stargate Command, Colorado Springs, Earth**

Carter quickly descended into the control room, where Sergeant Harriman was sitting back in his chair, both hands on the top of his head, regarding the Stargate critically with his glasses perched on his forehead. He saw Sam's reflection in the window and spun round slowly in his chair, maintaining his pose.

"How are they doing, ma'am?" he asked casually. The long-standing members of the SGC were often rather relaxed in terms of protocol, and Walter was no exception. Carter still found the atmosphere somewhat stuffy after her tenure on Atlantis, but she still appreciated the familiarity of the base and it's personnel.

In response to Walter's question, Sam merely half-smiled and said,

"Try dialling the Alpha Site, and we'll find out,"

The sergeant spun back around to face his computer screen.

"Ookay," he said irreverently. After a single tap on his keyboard, the familiar sirens blared into life, accompanying the metallic clattering of the Stargate's inner ring. "Beginning dialling sequence now," he added unnecessarily.

"Let me know if you manage to get a lock, Walter. I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, striding back up to check on Atlantis.

* * *

Said city was in the throes of a violent atmospheric entry, and Carson Beckett was straining to keep control. The power systems were being severely overtaxed, and some of the conduits were near overload.

"Carson, could you try and flatten our angle of descent?" Radek asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry Radek, if I ease up too much we'll end up crash-landing somewhere in southern England. I have missed the place, but it's not the homecoming I want!" the Scottish doctor said. "I might be able to put us down in the sea to the west of Cornwall, but I would have Amelia stand by on the cloak,"

Radek started scurrying around frantically, chattering on the radio with the control room and priming the cloaking generator. He had spent so much time worrying about surviving the battle and the heat flux of atmospheric entry that he was behind on the secrecy front. A three-mile wide city appearing in the busy North Atlantic seaways would raise eyebrows, and Radek did not want a simple oversight to reveal the multi-billion dollar program to the world at large.

After a few seconds of musical chirps from the Ancient instrumentation, Radek told Carson that they were ready for the switch from shield to cloak at any time.

"Right then," the Scotsman said, before putting himself on citywide.

"Everyone, this is Carson Beckett. We're about to come out of the re-entry phase, and I'm going to try and land us in the sea near Britain. I'd advise you all to hold on,"

With that, the city continued it's descent at a more leisurely rate. There would hopefully be no high-velocity splashdown like when they arrived at M35-117.

* * *

Carter strode back into the situation room.

"Status, Colonel?" she asked of Davis.

"The _Daedalus_ had reached orbit, they've got a few minor injuries from an overloading railgun capacitor, nothing serious. Unfortunately, two techs on the _Enterprise _were killed when the section they were in was hit by Wraith weapons fire. Sheppard says the ship is a bit bruised but otherwise OK," Davis said.

"OK, and what about Atlantis?" the commander of the SGC asked. She noted the blue dot over the northern Atlantic.

"Well, they appear to have survived re-entry intact. Woolsey has re-established communications, and says they're aiming to end up to the west of Cornwall, but Doctor Beckett is not sure about the power situation, apparently there's a lot of equipment getting stressed to the limit,"

"Damn. McKay's not going to be happy when he gets back. Has there been any media speculation about all this?" Carter asked, turning to the next big issue. The problem of secrecy was the elephant in the room, so to speak, and the light show in orbit had undoubtedly raised eyebrows, to say nothing of the crash of the Wraith cruiser.

"The Navy are saying that the cruiser fragments were actually an asteroid, but people aren't really buying it this time around. A few amateur clips of the crash are circulating on the Internet, and the news services are playing them over and over. Essentially, it's not just the tin-foil hatters this time," Davis sighed. "Fortunately you can't tell from the footage that it is a ship, but someone could come forward with something better at any time,"

"The IOA is going to have to be extremely careful. I know they have plans for this situation, but this would be far from the best way to go public," she said, recalling the time she spent on an alternate Earth where Anubis's attack had brought the reality of the Stargate program into the cold public gaze. It went without saying that disclosure would cause great political, social and economic upheaval.

Carter and Davis returned their attentions to the sensor displays, watching as the pulsating blue sphere that represented Atlantis drew ever-closer to the British Isles.

* * *

That fact was not lost on Richard Woolsey. He stood on the balcony, watching the steely grey ocean speed beneath them. Suddenly he stiffened up and focussed on the horizon as something caught his attention. A grey line had marched over the horizon and was approaching rather too quickly for Richard's liking.

The American hurried back into the control room, to see Amelia and Chuck huddled over a computer screen, in hurried discussion.

"We're uncomfortably close to the coast now, people. We need to set down very soon, yes?" Woolsey asked of the two technicians, who nodded.

"Yes, sir, but not just because we're nearing land. See this," Chuck said, indicating a set of numbers on the screen. "This is the stress on the repulsor emitters and inertial dampener systems. Because we're carrying the _Sun Tzu_ and a number of other things of our own addition, the systems are near overload. We need to set down very soon, and with the shield up,"

Woolsey was not happy.

"We need the cloak to avoid detection," he said.

"We know sir, but at the speed we'll be going, and without the shield, the city will break apart on landing," Amelia interjected.

Woolsey's report was cut off as the city shifted under them slightly.

"_Nothing to worry about, I'm orienting the city for the least stressful splashdown," _ Beckett's voice said over the PA, pre-empting Richard's radio call.

The city started rumbling once more as the sublight engines fired sharply to decelerate the three-mile wide city to a more sensible speed. Hitting the water at supersonic speed was not really an option worth considering.

The city roared through the sky past the north tip of Lundy Island, descending rapidly towards the wave-flecked wintry sea. The city started buffeting more as the northerly winds caught it passing through the steely clouds, steering it slightly towards the Devon coastline.

The last thousand feet passed in relative slow motion for all on board, with Amelia reading out the altitude as they rushed towards the sea. The city flared in the last moments before descent, streaking over the wavetops. Amelia's altitude calls became drowned out by the rattling and the sounds of machinery, as the massive city tried furiously to scrub off as much speed as possible.

Finally, the city struck the water with a sharp jolt, sending people throughout the city sprawling on the floor, rendering many unconscious.

* * *

"Sensors indicate that they've hit the water, General," one of the sensor techs reported. "They're in the Bristol Channel, between England and Wales. The British are scrambling SAR helicopters and lifeboats to render assistance,"

"That's good news. Have we heard from the city directly yet?" Carter asked. "Also, have they been spotted by any civilians?"

"No word on that yet, ma'am. The city should be over the horizon from the mainland, but there is a small, inhabited island nearby," the man said.

"Keep trying to contact Woolsey, we need to know what state the city is in," Sam ordered.

She sat down, daring to relax slightly. The planet was out of immediate danger, but they were on the lookout for any other Wraith ships that could be on the way. The threat of Ori insurgents and the unconfirmed reports of the original Ba'al could not be overlooked, especially in such a moment of weakness.

After taking a few deep breaths, Carter radioed Walter.

"Chief, what's the status of the gate?"

"_We established a lock, General, and Colonel O'Brien has SG-1, 3, and 8 at the Alpha Site, in addition to Atlantis teams 1 and 2. He also says Ronon Dex has been severely wounded, and he's being treated by Doctor Brightman's staff,"_ the sergeant said.

"That's great news, however, I sense a 'but' coming, Chief," Sam said.

"_Yes ma'am. They were due to dial back immediately, but we've not had any inbound gate activity since,"_ he said.

Carter was puzzled for about ten seconds, before the answer hit her.

"The wormholes are going to the only other Stargate on this planet, and that means Atlantis!" Carter said excitedly.

"_What?"_

"The reason we couldn't dial out during the battle was that the Wraith were blocking us with a Pegasus gate. Now that that gate no longer exists, the wormholes are defaulting to the only other gate with a DHD, which is on Atlantis," Carter explained. "It has to be,"

"_How does that help us, ma'am?"_ Walter asked. The SGC staff were used to Sam's frequent crazy theories.

"Get ready to dial the Alpha Site again. I'll be down there in a minute," she said decisively.

* * *

**Alpha Site, Milky Way Galaxy**

SG-1, along with McKay and Teyla, were relaxing on a grassy hill overlooking the dense forest of the planet. McKay was still keyed up with adrenalin and was unable to sleep, so he and Teyla went to check out the base, which neither of them had seen before. The planet on which the Alpha Site had been located had been nicknamed Endor, after the famous 'forest moon'. McKay was surprised to see that the base was much larger and open than the SGC, and he supposed that operating on an uninhabited planet had it's advantages. He recounted the early history of the SGC to Teyla as they walked, as she had not heard of the origins of Earth's involvement in galactic affairs.

After McKay finished his tale, they sat in companionable silence outside. After a short while, they had been approached by Mitchell and SG-1, who were eager to hear stories of Carter's year in Atlantis.

The conversations had proceeded for about half an hour, with McKay providing the main narrative. Teyla occasionally had to interrupt to steer McKay off a tangent or to prevent the Canadian from embellishing his own part in the events.

Just as they were recounting the destruction of Asuras, Colonel O'Brien's voice crackled though their radios, asking for their presence in the gateroom.

The small group stood up lazily, stretching tired muscles as they made their way back into the base.

What they saw when they arrived in the gateroom made McKay stop, Vala grin widely and Daniel to raise a very Teal'c-like eyebrow.

"Hey, Sam, good to see you." Daniel said, as he caught sight of Carter. "What's up?"

"Aw, what do you need me to fix now?" McKay asked tiredly.

Sam could only punch him lightly in the arm, mid-yawn.

"Hey, Daniel, guys. We're about to find out. Colonel, dial Earth again," Sam ordered. O'Brien nodded and started dialling. Carter launched into an explanation.

"Atlantis has landed, near England. We've been unable to raise them since they touched down," she said as the chevrons engaged with a series of loud _clanks_.

"So what, once we've gated back, we fly over there in a Jumper or have Caldwell beam us over? No big deal," Rodney said as the gate activated with the familiar kawoosh. "Then I fix whatever Zelenka broke. Simple," he said.

Carter ignored McKay for a second.

"Getting an IDC signal?" she asked the techs, who shook their heads. "Then send a MALP,"

SG-1 and Rodney looked very confused, as the eight-wheeled robot wheeled its way towards the event horizon.

"Uh, Samantha, they've got plenty of MALPs at Stargate Command, why would you need one from here for whatever it is you're doing?" Vala asked quizzically.

"Remember P4A-771?" Carter asked, mainly of Mitchell, who needed only a few seconds to realise.

"Damn, that is going back. Standard SG-1 unscheduled activation. You were inbound when under attack from Jaffa, Teal'c and Jackson end up in SGC, you and Colonel O'Neill end up in Antarctica. You don't think that-" the encyclopaedic colonel said.

"Just a hunch," Carter said. She crossed behind one of the desks, checking the MALP telemetry.

"We're clear to go through," she said, with a note of urgency in her voice.

* * *

SG-1, Carter, McKay and Teyla stepped through the event horizon, and found themselves in Atlantis's darkened gateroom.

"Damn, it's cold in here," Mitchell said. "Good hunch, General,"

"Thanks," Carter said. McKay was the picture of confusion.

"What?" was all he could say.

"Rodney, do Pegasus Stargates not override those from your galaxy?" Teyla asked gently. Carter had gone up to the control room to check on the people there.

"Rodney, we need your help up here!" she said, tapping a few controls. The rest of SG-1 was checking on the people who were sprawled across the floor.

"Right, of course," McKay said in answer to both questions, and hurried up the stairs to join Carter. He opened up a laptop next to Sam, and booted it up.

"Power is out throughout much of the city," he said worriedly.

"It looks like the inertial dampeners failed at impact, and everything else shut down," Carter said. "I'll restart the ZPMs, you work on getting primary systems back up,"

The two scientists started typing furiously, sometimes reaching over to tap an Ancient control or two.

SG-1 and Teyla were working on reviving the staff. Teyla was tending to Woolsey when the man opened his eyes slowly, looking around confusedly.

"Teyla?" he asked slowly. "I thought you were-"

"Relax Mr. Woolsey. The city has landed, and we have come to aid you," she said soothingly, which mollified the American bureaucrat as he sat up against a pillar. He replaced his glasses on his nose, and saw Teal'c aiding Banks, Mitchell clapping a disorientated Chuck on the back as the latter sat down heavily in his chair, and Vala helping Doctor Porter to her feet.

"Why is it dark?" he asked.

Carter didn't look up. "The city shut down when you landed. We're nearly back online," she said.

True to Sam's word, the lights flickered back on a minute later.

"Primary systems are back online, as are most of the secondaries," Rodney reported.

"Excellent, Doctor, General," Woolsey said, regaining his composure. He keyed his radio.

"All sections, report your status please," he said.

Replies started coming in from across the city. Rodney was relieved to hear that Zelenka and Beckett were OK, and even happier to hear that Jennifer was fine, although the infirmary was rather hectic.

However, his moment of happiness was shortlived, as he was interrupted by a chirping from the sensors barely a moment later.

"What now?" he asked. There were two contacts approaching from the south.

"What is it, Rodney?" Carter asked. She looked over his shoulder and saw his screen.

"Ah. That'll be the British," she said brightly. She activated the communications system.

"Unknown aircraft, this is Brigadier General Samantha Carter, of the United States Air Force. Please identify, and state whether you have been briefed on protocol India Oscar Alpha Sierra Golf Charlie," she said in her clipped aviator's voice.

"_Affirmative, General Carter. We are Foxtrot 1 and 2, of 33 Squadron Royal Air Force, Search and Rescue. Do you require assistance?"_

"That would be welcome, Foxtrot One. Our medical facilities are stretched and any support would be appreciated. You are clear to land on the southern pier. Carter out,"

Turning to McKay, she said: "Rodney, go and check on Radek and Carson, and advise Doctor Keller of the situation while you're at it,"

--

Back in Stargate Command, there was once more a panicked level of activity.

Colonel Davis regarded the source of the panic. It was a broadcast of the BBC's News 24 channel, which in itself was not alarming. But the current item was. Davis watched dejectedly, as the newsreader explained that a documentary crew on the island of Lundy had captured 'something that beggars belief'. The screen cut to the footage, and sure enough, the footage showed the city of Atlantis flying serenely past the northern tip of Lundy, and this time the HD footage meant there was no mistaking it for a weather balloon or a cloud.

As the clip looped around again, Davis sunk his head into his hands.

"Oh _shit._"


	12. Chapter 12

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 12**

**Atlantis, Bristol Channel, United Kingdom, Earth**

Rodney strode into the temporary infirmary that had been set up in one of the more open buildings of the city. He was confronted by a bustling hive of activity, as doctors from Atlantis, the _Sun Tzu_ and the _Daedalus_ tended to those injured over the course of the past few days. Rodney was surprised to see a few _Apollo_ shoulder patches moving around, caring for their crewmates.

The Canadian scanned the room for the yellow flash and US flag of Jennifer's uniform. Seeing nothing of her, he instead caught the attention of one of her colleagues, who started making her way over to him.

"Hello, Doctor McKay," the Japanese-American woman, whose name Rodney recalled dimly as Marie, said. "Are you injured?"

"No, no, I'm fine for once. Do you know where Jennifer is?" he asked hurriedly.

"I think she's in the ward three floors down from here, checking up on some of the _Apollo_ survivors who had surgery," Marie said. "If you'll excuse me, Doctor, I need to get back to work" she asked, gesturing towards a patient.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for your help," Rodney said, as he turned and walked briskly out of the room.

He quickly found one of the lifts in the building, and quietly drummed his fingers during the descent, turning a number of thoughts over in his head which mostly concerned how the city would fare if any heavy weather came along, not to mention the effect of the tidal currents.

The doors opened with a hiss of air, and Rodney was greeted by an _Apollo_ crewmember on crutches. The Canadian vacated the lift, allowing the man to enter, and he hurried down the corridor, checking a few of the rooms for Jennifer. Eventually he found her finishing tending to a _Sun Tzu_ engineer, who appeared to have steam burns on his leg. Rodney loitered uncomfortably near the door as he watched Jennifer delicately finish applying a dressing.

After she had made a not on the man's chart, she looked up tiredly at McKay, and her face lit into a smile as the Canadian walked over.

"Hey, I thought you were off-world, breaking things," she said, as they shared a warm embrace.

"I was, but General Carter needed me to help get the city back up and running, so we gated in from the Alpha Site. How have things been going for you? You look kinda busy round here," he replied.

"Well, we're on top of it, but it's inconvenient that Carson had to fly the city, we could've used him here," she said, before nudging McKay playfully in the shoulder. "That reminds me, I need you to speak to him about his flying skills. We were lucky that no-one was in the OR or on life-support when we landed,"

"I'm just on my way down to berate him and Zelenka now," McKay said. "There's some British search-and-rescue helicopters inbound, they've got trained medical personnel on board that could help you, apparently,"

"That's useful, they could take the people that need specialist treatment to a hospital," she said. "Now, you go and annoy Carson for me,"

--

Up in the control room, Carter was reviewing the results of a power diagnostic when the communications terminal chirped softly. Chuck slid over to take a look at it.

"General Carter, ma'am, Mr. Woolsey, we've got General O'Neill on audio," he said.

"Let's hear it, Chuck," Woolsey said. Carter stood up and walked over.

"You're on, sir," Chuck said to O'Neill.

"_Thank you,"_ the familiar voice said. _"Carter, Woolsey, I need you to come to Washington right away. We've got a situation,"_

"Sir, Atlantis still needs a lot of repair work," Carter protested.

"_We need the two of you right away, Carter. McKay can handle the city while you're gone. The Daedalus is over the far side of the planet, so I want you to fly over in a Jumper," _ the head of Homeworld Security ordered.

"What's the problem, General O'Neill?" Woolsey asked.

"_You'll find out when you get here. Make sure you cloak your Jumper before leaving. O'Neill out,"_

With that, the channel went dead.

"Very well, then," Woolsey said. "We need a pilot, General," he said to Carter, who was already halfway up the stairs to the Jumper bay.

"I got an improved version of the gene therapy at SGC six months ago. Come on!" she said. Woolsey sighed and followed her.

Two minutes later, Carter and Woolsey were in the air, and heading up into the thermosphere for the short, multi-mach flight across the Atlantic.

The flight passed in relative quiet, as both of them were tired from the efforts against the enemy hive. Carter had never flown a Jumper before, and was getting used to the unfamiliar craft. Even so, it took less than half an hour for the coast of North America to appear on the horizon. Carter took the ship down lower, until Washington DC came into view. Maintaining the cloak, she descended sharply, keeping an eye out for commercial traffic, until the Pentagon came into view. Carter guided the Jumper over the snowy roofs and into a small garage built on the roof of the building with this purpose in mind.

After the Jumper had powered down and the door opened, Carter and Woolsey exited the Jumper. They were saluted by a Major from O'Neill's office, who guided them down two floors and along a nondescript corridor until they reached a door, like any other.

"General O'Neill's office, ma'am," their escort said.

"Thank you, Major," Carter said.

They entered the room, and O'Neill's secretary waved them through (Carter thought that O'Neill having a _secretary_ was rather amusing). Woolsey and Carter strode through the next door, to be confronted with a large office, with views over the Potomac River.

On the large desk, Carter saw a few pictures of SG-1 and the SGC staff from the early days of the program along with his old SG-1 patch, on a little plinth, the remnants of the container that had briefly held Ba'al after his extraction, and the lighter that he had given Skaara on the first Abydos mission.

O'Neill himself was on the phone, and he gestured the two of them towards seats.

"Yes, Mr. Coolidge, they've just arrived. I'll get back to you after I've briefed them," he said.

Carter and Woolsey shared a quick glance at the mention of Coolidge's name.

"No, I can handle it, Coolidge, thank you," he said with a hint of iciness, and put the phone down with what Carter thought was relief.

He shifted his gaze between Sam and Richard a few times.

"Well, the two of ya did a good job today, even if we did cut it a little close in places. But that's not why I need you here. I'll cut to the chase. We have a big problem. Watch this," he said heavily, picking up a remote and gesturing with it at the large TV in the corner of the room. An image appeared of a small seabird with a multicoloured beak, surrounded by BBC graphics. The footage started playing.

"This is footage from a documentary film being shot on the island of Lundy," Jack said. "But they got a little more than footage of some cute puffins,"

At that moment, there was excited scrubbling from the camera crew, and the camera panned upwards into the sky. After a moment of focussing and shaking, the unmistakeable shape of Atlantis came into view, descending through the clouds.

Carter was sitting there with mouth agape.

"I'd say you're right about there being a problem, sir," she said.

"Yeah, it went out around the world, along with the usual wild speculation. But that's not all," he said. He switched to the other video, which was of a street scene in what looked like a Japanese harbour, complete with kanji news channel graphics.

"This was shot by a university student filming for a dissertation project in Yukusoka, Japan," O'Neill said.

Sure enough, a few people looked up at the sky in shock, and the camera followed them. Sure enough, a brooding dark shape was descending towards the city. Suddenly it was struck by a very faint blue beam, and it exploded. The camera tracked the fragments until they hit the water, raising a huge amount of spray. The camera then tracked back up, as the _Daedalus _pulled out of it's dive, shot over the water and back up into the high atmosphere. The camera panned down, picking up the shouting of the people in the street as they watched what was going on. The camera zoomed in on the area of impact, and a few fragments became visible, with Japanese and US naval ships bearing down on them.

"It's safe to say that the secret's out. Thankfully, as we know, for once the IOA have a plan for this sort of situation," O'Neill said, turning the TV off.

"Which version of the plan will they initiate?" Woolsey asked. His lawyer's mind was already running through the possiblities.

"Section 3 Part B, I believe," O'Neill said, handing out a pair of thin booklets. "Snappily titled 'Program exposure during defensive action against Pegasus Galaxy enemy attack'. I suggested 'What to do if they see us kickin' the Wraith's asses', but they didn't go for it,"

Carter had been reading the leaflet while O'Neill was talking, and her face fell.

"Sir, do I really have to address the UN Assembly?" she asked, shocked.

"I'm afraid so, Carter. That's the job of the SGC's CO. You'll be making a joint address with Sir Russell Chapman, the British IOA representative. After that, the President, the President-elect and I will do a press conference." O'Neill turned to Woolsey. "Richard, you, Colonel Davis, Hank Landry and Daniel will be doing the rounds of the TV news studios. We need to reassure people that everything is fine and not let things get out of hand," Jack said. "The networks are going to play Emmett Bregman's documentary, which we updated earlier this year to include the end of the Goa'uld and the Ori, incidentally,"

Carter was left almost speechless.

"Wow," was all she could come up with. She had never given much thought to the inevitable disclosure of the program, but now it was upon her in an all-too-real way.

"When do I make the address, sir?" she asked.

"Midday tomorrow. Coolidge and Chapman are hammering out the speech in New York right now. I'd like you to go over there in the Jumper after you and I contact Atlantis," he said.

Carter took a few minutes to read through the rest of the document. Truth be told, she had not studied the disclosure contingency plans all that closely, figuring that she'd still be a Colonel and therefore not involved if they had to be implemented. O'Neill waited for her to finish, then spoke again.

"Okay, now that that small matter has been dealt with, we need to talk about Atlantis," he said.

"Well, sir, the city seems to have taken quite a jolt on landing, which spiked out the power safety protocols, shutting everything down. McKay and I had got most things back up and running when you called," Carter said.

"Great," O'Neill said. He didn't ask for any more technical explanations, and Carter knew not to burden him with them. Woolsey spoke next.

"I do have to ask about another thing though, General," he said. "We've got a lot of work still ongoing in Pegasus, not to mention the personnel of the Aleph Site and our military obligations to the Pegasus Coalition. When do we think that Atlantis will return to M35-117?" he asked.

"Richard, if we'd kept this all under wraps, you'd probably be on your way back even now," Jack said. "But unfortunately, the public and political considerations have to be taken care of, and there's also the fact that our friends at the IOA would take some convincing to let you go,"

"I thought as much," Woolsey said. "I assume we can count on Homeworld Security's support in this?"

"Sure. I'll chat to the other military partners and sound them out. Now, I want you to go to the IOA and get ready for the big day tomorrow. Good luck to the both of you," he said, giving a friendly smile to Carter and a nod to Woolsey.

"Thanks, sir. We're going to need it," Carter said.

--

Back on Atlantis, Daniel and Teyla had somehow ended up in charge, as McKay was busy working on some systems in the bowels of the stardrive. The RAF helicopters had arrived, and a number of the most serious injuries were being loaded for transfer to specialist care units in Barnstaple and Swansea. The Ilfracombe and Mumbles lifeboats were on the way, carrying medical supplies and a few more doctors. They would also try and hold the city at anchor against the strong tidal currents of the Bristol Channel, until the Royal Navy could arrive. They would either try and tow the city out into a less tidal area, or supply it with more and stronger anchors.

Daniel had just finished helping the helicopter crew load a burns victim when his radio beeped in his ear. He stepped away, heading for the nearest building as the blades and jet turbine engines of the Sea King helicopters split the air with their deafening cacophony of sound.

"Yes?" he asked when the noise had been deadened by the Ancient architecture.

"_Doctor Jackson, this is Teyla. Generals O'Neill and Carter wish to speak with you, urgently,"_ the Athosian said.

"Okay. On my way. Where's the nearest transporter?" Daniel asked, looking around. There was a pause, as Teyla consulted the lifesigns monitor.

"_Take the second door to your left, and the transporter is at the end of that corridor,"_

"Excellent, thanks," Daniel replied as he set off. He had a rather unsettling idea of what Jack and Sam wanted to talk about...

--

Five minutes later, Daniel was in the conference room, along with SG-1 and the Atlantis senior staff, talking to holographic versions of his former team-mates.

"_Long story short, the secret's out. For once, the IOA is moving quickly to keep a lid on the situation. They don't want a repeat of the situation I found in that alternate reality," _Sam said, to universal dejection.

"_Soo, to that end, we are having a PR offensive," _Jack said, making air quotes around 'PR offensive' and looking as thrilled about it as everyone else. _"Daniel, the BBC have asked the IOA for somebody to interview from the SGC. That's going to be you,"_

"Go on TV? Jack, what is this?" a very confused archaeologist asked.

"_You got the easy job, Daniel. Carter has to make the big speech to the UN. We're sending the plan for tomorrow over for you to read in detail after we finish here, anyway,"_ Jack replied with false patience.

"Uhh, General, how does this affect us going back to Pegasus?" a grimy Rodney McKay asked. He had been deep in the bowels of the city with Zelenka when he had been called away. "I only ask because we've got a lot on out there, and we've got plenty of ZPMs for the trip,"

"_Well, my friend, that is a bridge we shall have to cross later. First, we've got to prevent the world sinking into anarchy, make sure people don't freak out, ya know?"_

_--_

John Sheppard spun idly in his chair on the bridge of the _Enterprise_. The geeks had refused to let him leave until they had patched up the most major damage. He and Caldwell had been in intermittent communication with Cheyenne Mountain, who had been updating them on events on the planet. About one hour after the battle had ended, the two ships' orbits had intersected once more, and now they were flying in formation. Thanks to the ZPMs and the power that they had provided to the shields, damage was fairly minimal, and Sheppard was getting restless, wanting to go back to Atlantis.

His patience lasted until the next time they were over Europe before he asked Marks for a beam-down.

--

Sheppard materialised in the gateroom shortly afterwards.

"Is it just me, or is it a bit chilly in here?" he asked. Seeing the people nearby roll their eyes, "What?", he asked.

"Aha, Colonel Sheppard!" Zelenka said cheerily from the balcony. "How was the _Enterprise_?"

"Great, the Auroras are kinda fun things to fly around. Where's Woolsey?"

"He is having a conference with the IOA in Washington, and your team is doing the same with Generals O'Neill and Carter in the briefing room. I think they're almost finished," the Czech said.

"Thanks, Doc," Sheppard said, starting towards the briefing room. True to Radek's word, the doors swung open, revealing Teyla, McKay and to his surprise, SG-1.

"Didn't know you were in town, Colonel Mitchell," he said.

"Back at ya, Sheppard. Thought you did a fine job on that hive with that fancy ship of yours," SG-1's leader said.

"I heard that all the action's going on down here," John said. Turning to McKay, "What's going on, Rodney?"

"Now that is a long old story," the Canadian said, barely suppressing a yawn.

--

So, we move into something new for SGC and the IOA. Publicity will have to be a major consideration from now on, and there is a lot for the people of Earth to learn about and adjust to.

There will be a sequel to this, provisionally (and imaginatively) titled 'The Return to Pegasus', which will deal with the return trip and the change in Tau'ri interstellar policy in both galaxies resulting from disclosure.

But first, there are the political battles to be fought.


	13. Chapter 13

**Bandits Approaching The Entrance**

**Chapter 13**

**Atlantis, Bristol Channel, United Kingdom, Earth**

"I do have to ask one thing, though," Sheppard said to McKay, as they left the gateroom. "Where's Ronon?"

McKay looked guilty for a second, as he remembered the Satedan, who he had almost forgotten in his efforts to repair the stardrive.

"John, he was injured. Stabbed by a Wraith while we were on the hive. He's at the Alpha Site's hospital right now. They say he should be OK," the Canadian said. They had both stopped in the corridor. Sheppard didn't look pleased.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" John asked angrily. "One of our team-mates is critically injured, and I have to wait hours to find out?"

With that, the colonel turned around, heading back to the control room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Rodney asked, hurrying after him.

"I'm going to the Alpha Site, like I should've done hours ago!" John said.

"What, now?"

"Yes. Now." There was no room for argument.

The pair strode back into the control room.

"Chuck! Alpha Site, now!" the colonel said darkly, pointing at the Stargate.

"Sir?" the Canadian technician asked.

"You heard me!" John said curtly.

Within moments, the wormhole was established. Chuck communicated briefly with his opposite numbers on Endor.

"You're clear, sir," he said.

"Thank you," Sheppard said, before grabbing McKay, who was about to make an escape back to his repair work. "Not so fast. Zelenka can handle it. Where's Teyla?"

"She's talking with Daniel Jackson and General O'Neill, I think it was something about the Athosians, and going back to Pegasus," McKay stuttered.

"Fine. Let's go," John said, walking towards the event horizon.

--

In the conference room, true to Rodney's word, Jack, Daniel and Teyla were discussing the future.

"_Teyla, I gotta be straight with you. Now that we're going public, there are going to be a lot of unpredictable things thrown at all of us, from governments and the media. I don't know when, or even if, Atlantis is going to return to the Pegasus galaxy,"_ the holographic general said.

"I did realise that that could be a possibility. I do understand your desire to ensure that your people are adequately defended, General O'Neill, but I fear my people would look on such an act unfavourably," Teyla said. "I also believe that the other peoples of my galaxy would share that view, and if Atlantis were to remain here, then the Genii would almost certainly make a power play within the Coalition,"

"_That's what we were thinking as well. We want to keep a presence in Pegasus, even if Atlantis doesn't go back immediately. We're going to be expanding the Aleph Site anyway, but of course Atlantis is a far better base of operations for operations against the Wraith. The Antarctic outpost offers most of the advantages of having the city here, apart from the shield, and I'm told that work is progressing at Area 51 on an Atlantis-style shield for the whole planet,"_ Jack said.

"That is good to hear, General. I am glad to have your support," Teyla said, with a slow nod.

"_Think nothing of it, ma'am,"_ Jack said airily.

"Jack, have you actually managed to contact the Aleph Site yet?" Daniel asked randomly.

"_Daedalus are going to beam their ZPM down next time they're over Colorado, and there's some talk about rebuilding the Gate Bridge at some point,"_ Jack said.

"It would be unfortunate for the personnel there to be stranded, General, although I am sure my people would be more than happy to assist them," Teyla supplied.

"_Excellent,"_ Jack said. _"Teyla, there is one other thing we need to discuss. You're an alien head of state, as it were, and there will undoubtedly be some media requests for interviews. I know the President-elect is very keen to meet you, but he's happy to wait until whenever you're ready,"_

"The media?" Teyla said quizzically, taking a moment to remember the Earth term. "Ah yes, I would be happy to share the story of Athos as I know it, but not quite yet. Perhaps once things settle down somewhat, I would be happy to meet your new leader and share my story with others," the Athosian leader said.

"_It's no problem. Apparently invitations will be going out to Prime Minister Bra'tac, High Councillor Garshaw, and Chancellor Tomin of the Ori Republic to meet him, so there's no hurry,"_ Jack said, referring to the leaders of the reformed Jaffa Federation, Tok'ra and to the recently-established secular Ori state, which was under very close watch by all of the Milky Way powers. In fact, as a safeguard, the tainted ZPM found by Camulus had been placed in a cloaked ship behind the Supergate in the Ori galaxy, rigged to detonate by remote control if the Ori ever attempted another incursion.

"_Daniel,"_ Jack said, turning to the archaeologist. _"The RAF have offered to fly you out on the next medevac chopper, and the US embassy will put you up for the night in London for your BBC interview session,"_

"Jack, I.." Daniel started.

"_Daniel, they asked for an expert, very nicely I might add. Just think, you get to prove all the other stuffy Egypt geeks wrong. On television. How does that sound?"_

"Alright," Daniel said off-handedly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"_Eexcelleent,"_ Jack said in a rather sinister manner, before winking out of existence. Teyla seemed confused as she and Daniel left the room.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Character from one of his favourite TV shows. He might wear the general's uniform, but inside he's like a kid sometimes," Daniel offered by way of explanation. As they walked into the control room, Daniel saw Mitchell, Vala and Teal'c kitted up in the gateroom.

"Hey guys. Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Goin' back to the SGC to catch a few Zs. Plus Vala wanted to catch a TV show, about clothes and hair or somethin'. I hear you're stayin' put?" Mitchell said.

"Yep. TV interviews in London, meeting the Prime Minister," Daniel said, still somewhat unhappy with the idea.

"Hell, you'll be fine. Can't be more scary than facing down a semi-ascended bad guy, right?" Cam asked.

"Well, when you put it like that..." Daniel said.

"I believe that your oratory skills will be more than sufficient to meet this challenge, Daniel Jackson. I, for one, wish to bear news back to Bra'tac and the Jaffa Senate on Delmak. They will be most pleased to hear of this," Teal'c said, as the Stargate activated to take them back to the Alpha Site. The personnel there had an Asgard-designed energy pulse device to 'jump' the connection to Cheyenne Mountain. Daniel had the feeling that it would end up being used often over the next few days.

"Bye darling! We'll all be watching you and Samantha on the television, so don't mess it up!" Vala called as they went through the event horizon. All Daniel could do was wave forlornly as they disappeared.

* * *

After John and Rodney had arrived at the Alpha Site, they immediately went in search of the infirmary. After a few stops to ask directions, they found Doctor Brightman's office.

"How is he?" John asked. The doctor looked up from a chart and saw the Atlantis patches, so there was no need to ask who they were talking about.

"He's very lucky. The blade went into his abdomen, barely missing his spine. There's a small amount of damage to his liver and large intestine, but we've patched that up as well as we can in the OR, but he'll be out of action for a while," Brightman said. She glanced at her watch. "Your timing was quite good, he should be waking up within about an hour or so. I'd suggest that you go grab something to eat, and I'll radio you when he wakes up?"

"Thanks, doc. We'll hang around here if that's OK with you," Sheppard said.

"Sure. He's in the second room to the right after you leave this office," Brightman said cheerfully.

The two Atlantis Expedition members left the room and quickly found Ronon. He was asleep, with a thicket of softly bleeping machines and a series of IVs hooked up to him.

Sheppard sat down in one of the soft chairs in the room. Rodney remained standing.

"I'm going to go grab a sandwich. Want me to pick something up for you?" the Canadian said.

Sheppard thought about glaring at the slightly grimy Canadian until he sat down, but truth be told, he was starting to get hungry.

"Sure," he said, and Rodney left the room with a tiny thumbs up.

* * *

In New York, Carter had just landed the Jumper on the roof of the IOA's headquarters, which was a fairly standard office block. The door slowly dropped open to reveal a greying man, who looked to be in his mid-fifties.

"Ah, my partner in crime! Greetings, General Carter," he said warmly, shaking Sam's hand.

"Sir Russell, good to see you again," Sam said, as they headed for the nearest stairwell.

"I am terribly sorry about that Atlantis business with Richard last year. The others were all most insistent, in fact it was just myself and M. LaPierre who thought you should stay. How is the SGC treating you?" the British IOA representative asked.

"It's very different to Atlantis, much more formal. I can't do as much research as I'd like now, which is unfortunate, but I do like to help out with Dr. Lee's projects when I can. Although as far as Atlantis goes, I think Woolsey's been doing very well," Carter said, as they entered an office.

"I suppose that is the price one pays in high office, General," Sir Russell said, before handing Sam a folder. "This is a copy of the speech that I will make, and a preliminary copy of yours, subject to any alterations you'd like to make, of course. It's more of a basic framework to build upon, as I'm providing a basic background to what's out there. I would imagine that you'd be more suited to explaining the more subtle aspects of the Program than I,"

"Thanks, Sir Russell. Is there a computer nearby for me to work on?" Sam asked.

"Through that door there," Sir Russell said, indicating a panelled door. There is a cafeteria at the end of the corridor we were in moments ago. I suppose I'd better leave you to it, I'm going to add a few finishing touches to my own oration,"

"Okay, I'll find you when I've got something I'm happy with," Sam said.

"Very well," the British diplomat said, and he turned and left the room. Sam found the computer in the next room easily, sat down and opened the file.

"Wow," she said after she had read a few lines. "This is going to be huge,"

* * *

Sheppard was less concerned about the political situation on Earth. He was enjoying a turkey sandwich in the corner of Ronon's room. McKay had finished a salad-laden baguette some time earlier (Sheppard noticed that McKay's diet and fitness had improved considerably since he and Keller started their relationship). A question popped into his mind.

"What happened on the hive?" he asked between mouthfuls of turkey.

"Well, literally just after you and Caldwell left, Woolsey tried to dial Earth to check in," the Canadian said. "Instead, the wormhole connected to the Pegasus gate on the hive. So, me, Teyla, Ronon, Lorne, and about half a dozen of the best guys on the base went though to try some sabotage,"

"You know, I'd have liked to have known about this before I arrived at Earth myself, but go on," Sheppard said, swigging on a bottle of water.

"You were in hyperspace! Anyway, once we'd taken out the Wraith at the gate, I scanned around for something to steal, and since the ZPMs were in one place, we decided to have a shot at those," Rodney said. "They were a long way away, and the Wraith didn't have any convenient motorbikes to steal, so we had to fight our way there. Once the SGC teams turned up we made excellent progress. It was like being in a computer game or something! So eventually we get to this room, and my sensors were useless because the ZPMs were too close. Teyla reaches out with the Force, find the ZPMs, we cut them out and get the hell out of there. Then Ronon got stabbed when we were nearly back, and you were telling us to hurry up,"

"Great," came a groggy voice from the bed. McKay and Sheppard stood up as one.

"Ronon!" they said in unison.

"I was saving your life, you know," the Satedan said tiredly.

"Well, thanks," Rodney said. "The whole knife thing was kinda unfortunate, though,"

"You're tellin' me," came the gruff reply.

"How ya doing, Chewie?" Sheppard asked.

"Been better. Back's painful, and I'm starving," Ronon said.

"I'm sure Rodney would be only too happy to go and get you something," Sheppard said, with a wide smile at McKay.

"Jeez, alright," he said, heading for the door. "Talk amongst yourselves,"

--

In London, Daniel Jackson collapsed on his bed at the American embassy. The journey to London had been exhausting, consisting of a short flight in the helicopter, a road trip to Exeter followed by another flight, this time to London City Airport, where a US embassy official was waiting. He'd just been watching the news channels, and they were ripe with speculation about tomorrow's UN meeting.

_Well, aren't they going to be surprised,_ Daniel thought.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

Reviews and feedback always gratefully recieved.

You may note that I'm calling the Pegasus Alpha Site the Aleph Site. This is not a typo, it's the Hebrew equivalent, to differentiate between the Milky Way and Pegasus.

Erin87: I think that having it go public at the end of Atlantis would've been a fantastic way to go into the Atlantis film, by having the cloak fail or something, but it wasn't to be.

andrewjameswilliams: Indeed. Countries like Iran, North Korea and some of the South Americans like Chavez, Morales and Castro won't like this one bit, and. A lot of countries will no doubt bristle at the extensive US involvement, and I can definitely see an upswing in religious violence across the world, particularly in places where their 'gods' were actually Goa'uld. I'll bet some of the Scandinavians will be quite happy, they did well on the gods front!

MJW: About the F-302s, I had the Mark Eights as part of their standard load-out, which would make sense as far as having the ability to engage different types of target goes, important when scrambling quickly. As for the one-sidedness of the battle, _mea culpa_. In my defence, Wraith ships do seem to be lightly crewed for their size, and they're up against the best special forces that can be thrown against them.

As for the general concern about Todd, he's not been forgotten. It's just that the Tau'ri have been to busy of late to worry about going to see him. He'll turn up later, when the time comes to decide what to do with him. Most of his power base was taken from him by Kenny and got blown up in Earth orbit, and by the time he gets back to Pegasus things could have moved on. For the moment, he's probably been sitting in that room planning _something_!


	14. Chapter 14

**Bandits Approaching The Entrance**

**Chapter 14**

**New York City, United States, Earth**

It had been a long night for Samantha Carter. It had only taken a few hours to complete her speech, but she found it oddly difficult to sleep. In the end, she had stood at the window, looking over the city that was as sleepless as she was, wondering what effect the words she would speak tomorrow would have.

She had not left the insulated bubble of the SGC or Atlantis since the battle, and had no time to even glimpse a news report of any kind. She had watched about half an hour of CNN last night, and while there was much confusion, it had not spilled out into outright violence yet. There were rumblings in the parliaments, senates and congresses of the world, and Carter thought back to her time in the alternate reality before stopping herself. _That will _**_not_**_ happen here_**, **she thought. The IOA governments here were united, in stark contrast to the international isolation that the USA experienced in that reality. Idly, she wondered what the situation was like there, whether President Landry had actually managed to get the country back to normal.

Some time after the sun had risen, she started flipping through her speech. She had memorised most of it already, but it gave her a focus.

"The new view must come, the world must roll forward,"

Carter nearly jumped out of her skin, as the voice of Sir Russell brought her to the present.

"Churchill?" she asked as she turned round.

"Indeed," the diplomat said. "They seem like apt words for this situation, don't you think?" He held out a small glass of whisky to Carter, which she accepted. He sipped from his own slowly before continuing. "I thought that some Macallan would help with the nerves. Agent Bates and his team think it best that we travel to the UN in your puddle jumper. There are apparently crowds forming outside in anticipation of today's events, and we wish to avoid any trouble, particularly afterwards,"

"I guess we are about to become the most notorious people on the planet," Carter said, sampling the amber liquid.

"Very much so. I would imagine that some governments might not survive the upheavals. Russia and China will probably be unaffected, but France, Britain and Canada's governments all have various issues with popularity, their economies and parliamentary majorities. It will be interesting, to say the least. How did the President-elect handle the news?"

Carter took a second, watching a US Airways flight take off from LaGuardia.

"All things considered, very well. He wasn't that surprised, and having President Hayes there helped. I think people will take this in a similar way. We've had strange things happening and being explained away because of us for over ten years, and that some of them were centred on Cheyenne Mountain will have been noticed,"

"Undoubtedly. I thought we'd had it a few years back when Ba'al crashed that Al'kesh in the countryside outside Colorado Springs," Sir Russell said pensively, before glancing at his watch. "Well, the hour cometh. I'll leave you to prepare, General,"

"Thanks. I shouldn't need too long. Meet you by the Jumper in an hour?" Sam asked.

"Very well," the diplomat said as he ushered himself out of the room.

**Atlantis, Bristol Channel, United Kingdom, Earth**

Sheppard was in his quarters, along with Keller, Teyla and Ronon, the latter of whom was in a wheelchair and hating every second. They had managed to convince Doctor Brightman to let the Satedan watch the big speeches, so long as Keller remained close by.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't be seeing anything on the TV, one of the many that Caldwell had beamed down, any time soon, as Rodney and Chuck were desperately trying to set up a TV rebroadcaster on the small ledge at the top of the central tower. After a look at his watch, the colonel flicked on his radio.

"Rodney, any danger of any TV picture soon?" he asked in a goading voice.

"_Yes, John, we're nearly done with aligning the satellite dish, and might I add that it's extremely cold up here on this balcony!"_ came the flustered reply, amid a fair helping of wind noise.

Sheppard's scathing retort was pre-empted by a distorted image appearing on the screen, which quickly resolved into CNN's newsreaders.

"You got it, Rodney," Sheppard said.

"_Great. we're on our way down from this icy ledge,"_

**Stargate Command**,** Colorado** **Springs, United States, Earth**

At Stargate Command, SG-1, sans Sam and Daniel, were watching the festivities with the control room techs upstairs in the briefing room. Doctor Lee had set up the projector, and currently everyone was half-smiling at what the news anchors were saying, although several people didn't appreciate the frequent Star Trek and Wormhole X-Treme! references.

As they were being given a fact-file on what CNN knew about Carter and Chapman (which was, amusingly, very little), the offworld gate activation alarms rang out. After the usual procedure, Bra'tac emerged from the event horizon, to be greeted by Colonel Davis. He looked somewhat surprised to see the Colonel there and not Carter, but he allowed himself to be shown out of the gateroom.

A few moments later, the Jaffa Prime Minister entered the room.

"Hey there, Bra'tac. Congratulations on the election," Mitchell said nonchalantly.

"My thanks, Colonel Mitchell. Greetings to you all," Bra'tac said, then to Teal'c, as the two greeted each other in the customary manner: "Tek'ma'tek, Teal'c, old friend,"

"And to you, old friend. How go affairs on Delmak?" Teal'c asked warmly.

"The federal government system is taking shape. As you have heard, the elections to the Jaffa Senate and Assembly were most successful," Bra'tac said. "However, I have heard from the Tau'ri ambassador that even more important events are underway here,"

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "The existence of the Stargate and associated activities is to be announced by General Carter to a gathering of senior Tau'ri dignitaries,"

"What precipitated this action?"

"This planet was attacked by a Wraith vessel from the Pegasus galaxy," Teal'c said. "During the course of the battle, events became too wide-ranging to effectively conceal the extraterrestrial influence,"

"As such events have a way of doing. I am glad that the people of the Tau'ri are taking their first steps into a larger world," Bra'tac said, settling into a chair.. "You will all become celebrated warriors among your people, I am sure,"

With that, attention turned back to the TV.

In New York, Carter and Chapman waited in the wings nervously. Chapman would go first, and Carter would follow with a more detailed account. They were waiting for the various representatives, politicians and diplomats to take their seats in the large UN General Assembly chamber. There was a lot of chatter reaching Sam's ears, and she idly wondered if there would be so much chatter when the representatives left.

After a few minutes, which felt like seconds, they were beckoned up by a staff member to join Ban Ki-Moon at the table behind the lectern. After brief introductions between the Secretary-General and Carter under the dazzling lights, the USAF officer and the British diplomat sat down. Ban walked to the lectern and started to speak, offering thanks and apologies for the urgently and hastily assembled meeting. Carter could see a few of the TV cameras track around to focus on her and Sir Russell.

* * *

"Well, doesn't she look a bit nervous?" Rodney said from his perch in the corner of Sheppard's quarters.

"Wouldn't you be? This is likely the defining moment in her life and all that," Jennifer said from next to him.

"I suppose so," was all that Rodney could mumble back, to the quiet amusement of Sheppard and Ronon.  
The blonde doctor had the unique ability to shut down Rodney's sarcasm before he'd even started, in stark contrast to people who managed to amplify it, like Zelenka, who had been pressganged into watching Stargate Operations along with Lorne and Banks. Beckett had volunteered to take Keller's place in the infirmary as penance for his harsh landing.

"I'd have to agree with that," John said lightly. "Although I don't think that she's as nervous as when she took over the Atlantis job,"

"Nah, that's because she's not having to deal with McKay this time," Ronon said gruffly. His back was to McKay and Keller, and his wide grin was only seen by Teyla and Sheppard, who struggled to contain fits of laughter.

* * *

At SGC, there was no mickey-taking. As Ban Ki-Moon walked away from the lectern, having delivered his opening words, Sergeant Harriman started dialling the Stargate to the Alpha Site, so the hundreds of personnel on the offworld base could tune in.

The Stargate activated with the familiar unstable vortex as the Secretary-General sat down between Carter and Sir Russell, and the data link a few seconds later, in time to see the IOA diplomat arrive at the lectern, draw a deep breath, and start speaking words that would change the world forever.

* * *

A slightly shorter update today. I'm portraying Sir Russell Chapman as the slightly stereotypical British diplomat/ambassador type, as he got limited characterisation in both SG-1 and Atlantis, as far as I remember, and we've only seen him in stressful circumstances.

I'm trying to sort the speech to my satisfaction at the moment. If you don't know what the chamber in which Sam is speaking looks like, then search Wikipedia for 'United Nations General Assembly'

The next chapter is likely to be the last. After that there will be a sequel.


	15. Chapter 15

**Bandits Approaching the Entrance**

**Chapter 15  
**

**United Nations General Assembly, New York, Earth**

Sir Russell took a deep breath, and began speaking. The words escaped him surprisingly easily, especially after the twelve years of enforced secrecy.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, representatives, ambassadors. I come before you at this Emergency Special Session to offer an explanation for the recent extraordinary events that have occurred over Nevada, in the United States, Yokosuka City in Japan, and the Bristol Channel, in the United Kingdom. There has been much discussion about these events in the media, online, and in homes and businesses across the world. Some say that these events were natural events, such as asteroid impacts, or that they were missile tests, or training flights of secret aircraft.

Others say that freak weather events were in play, and some think that these events were due to alien activity.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to tell you that it is the last of these that is the true explanation behind these events.

I can categorically state that there is life 'out there', and that extraterrestrial civilizations have been involved with life on this planet since prehistory, indeed since our ancestors were nothing more than apes swinging in the trees of Africa.

You may rightly be asking how I, a former British Ambassador to the United States, may know of this," With that, the flag of the IOA and the emblem of Stargate Command appeared on the screens behind the diplomat.

"I represent an agency called the International Oversight Advisory. The IOA is a multinational, civilian organisation which co-ordinates the off-world policy of Earth. It consists of former ambassadors such as myself, retired politicians and senior military personnel from the Security Council, NATO, the Commonwealth of Nations and the EU.

You may also be asking how we communicate and interact with the wider universe, given the vast gulf between ourselves and other solar systems.

We have two methods. The first is by a device, made many millions of years ago and unearthed by the archaeologist and Egyptologist, Doctor Langford, from the Giza Plateau in the 1920s. This device is called a Stargate, and allows near-instantaneous travel to any one of many, many identical devices placed on an equally large number of Earth-like worlds across at least three galaxies..."

Chapman allowed the impact of that last sentence to roll around the room. He caught a few eyes as his gaze travelled around the chamber, eyes of former colleagues, allies, underlings and adversaries. They all held some degree of confusion, but noticeable hostility could be seen in a few representatives. Chapman noted that Venezuela, Cuba and Peru were swapping notes regularly, and the Iranians, Saudis and Syrians were stony-faced.

Chapman pressed on, outlining a short introduction to the races and notable civilizations of the universe. As the Goa'uld were mentioned, a quiet shudder reverberated around the Assembly, especially when their connection to Ancient Egypt was revealed. This was contrasted with an imperceptible grin on the face of the Icelandic representative when they were told of Thor and the Asgard.

Chapman moved on to cultural matters, with examples of Goa'uld and Ancient writings flashing up behind him, joined by pictures of monuments and cultural artifacts. After that, he started to conclude.

"Undoubtedly you are now thinking of the threat posed by some of the races that I have discussed here. How advanced are they? How do they concern us? Well, to answer those questions and recount the events of the past week, I present to you Brigadier General Samantha Carter, of the United States Air Force. General Carter is far more qualified than I to discuss the military and scientific aspects of the Stargate programme, as she has been involved with it since it's inception. General Carter?" the British diplomat concluded, with a gesture towards Sam, who flashed a nervous grin as she rose. She could feel the eyes of hundreds follow her steps, and the eyes of billions more behind the TV cameras.

_Stay calm, Sam. It can't be harder than blowing up a star, can it?_

She reached the lectern, shuffled her papers and began.

"Thank you, Sir Russell. As he said, I am the current commanding officer of the Stargate Command facility in Colorado Springs. I've been involved with the Stargate program for just over twelve years, and along with my team-mates, the then-Colonel Jack O'Neill, Doctor Daniel Jackson and the Jaffa warrior Teal'c of Chulak, our work since 1997 has been focussed on intelligence-gathering, reconnaissance, technology acquisition and occasionally, planetary defence,"

"The strategy against the Goa'uld, the then dominant species in this galaxy, was perhaps ironically for the US, one of insurgency and political exploitation, in conjunction with two rebellious factions within their power structure," she said clearly, gaining confidence as she spoke. _This is the right thing to do, so do it well,_ she thought to herself.

"The death of their supreme leader Ra, in 1996, set the Goa'uld empire into vicious infighting. The strategy of prolonging this infighting managed to keep most of their attention away from us for seven years, until the System Lord Anubis attacked us in 2004, an attack that was said to be a meteor shower, and an attack that also destroyed a US Navy carrier group. However, the enemy was repelled by an alien weapons system in Antarctica, discovered thanks to the work of Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson,"

As Sam spoke, images flashed up, of pyramid ships, Ha'taks, a rally of free Jaffa, sensor recordings from Prometheus.

"This defeat started a new round of infighting amongst the System Lords. This, in conjunction with a growing Earth-sponsored rebellion amongst the Jaffa warriors, and an attack by a now-destroyed extragalactic enemy, led to their eventual defeat in orbit of the Jaffa world of Dakara in 2005,"

"This left ourselves and the Jaffa as the major diplomatic powers in the galaxy, but the attack of a few days ago did not originate from this galaxy,"

"Earlier in 2005, investigations of the Antarctic weapons after the Anubis attack led to the discovery of the 'Lost City' of Atlantis, located in the Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy. A multinational expedition was formed, led by the former UN representative, Elizabeth Weir. This expedition discovered Atlantis, in an almost pristine condition. The myth of the Lost City originated from a race known as the Alterans, or as they are more commonly known, the Ancients,"

"As the Atlantis Expedition explored this new galaxy, they discovered another hegemonic enemy, known only to the humans of Pegasus as the Wraith, who prey upon those humans for food. Since then, we have been involved in a prolonged war with the Wraith, and since 2005 have greatly reduced their power to prey indiscriminately upon the humans of the Pegasus galaxy,"

"The attack on Earth was triggered by a Wraith gaining an advanced Alteran power source. This attack was repulsed by means of the Antarctic system and the efforts of Atlantis, a salvaged Alteran-era starship, and a number of Earth-made vessels,"

The world was officially introduced to the F-302 and the DSC-304 for the first time, as they appeared behind Sam.

"These are the _Daedalus-_class ships, and the F-302 starfighter. Three capital ships were involved in the defence of Earth, the _Daedalus_ and _Apollo_, operated by the United States Air Force, and the _Sun Tzu_, operated by the Chinese People's Liberation Army,"

"These ships, in consort with a sabotage team, managed to destroy the enemy capital ship, although unfortunately, the _Apollo_ was lost during the battle. The incident in Tokyo Bay was a result of the _Daedalus_ shooting down an enemy escort ship which was heading for Tokyo. That enemy ship broke up before impact, and the remains have been swept thoroughly by the US Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force,"

"The incident filmed by the BBC in England was the landing of Atlantis after the battle. The three mile wide city remains in the Bristol Channel, to the north-east of the town of Ilfracombe. The Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution are working tirelessly to aid the city, and to the British Government, we at Stargate Command and the IOA owe our deepest thanks,"

Sam took a deep breath. Her work was nearly done. She launched into her closing words.

"These new horizons may seem incredible and unreal, as if they are from the pages of science fiction. I can assure you that these things are very real, and the work we do is incredibly rewarding. We do not just fight, we have a multitude of humanitarian and diplomatic operations ongoing across two galaxies. We are custodians of the legacies of two extinct races, and we are exploring areas of science and technology that are almost fantastical," she said. "Thank you for your time,"

Sam stepped back, allowing Chapman to return to the lectern, taking several deep breaths as she did so. The room was silent, whether deep in contemplation or simply stunned, Sam couldn't tell.

Carter's musings were interrupted as Chapman spoke again.

"Excellent words, General Carter. Undoubtedly people will be listening to this with a multitude of emotions. If you are frightened of a new attack, then be assured that the finest minds and finest soldiers on this planet work tirelessly for our defence without concern for ethnicity or nationality. The Stargate program has brought many former enemies together to work in pursuit of a common goal," the diplomat said.

"There will undoubtedly be those who are angry with the secrecy under which the IOA and SGC have operated. You have a right to be displeased with us, for we are not perfect, but as far as this planet is concerned, nothing has changed apart from a broadening of horizons. We have discovered long-lost cousins on far-off worlds. We have discovered our true ancestors, and we have lifted the yoke of literal slavery from billions of people. You may be angry, but we at the IOA, at Stargate Command, on Atlantis, and aboard our space fleet are proud of what we have achieved to defend all those on Earth. More details of SGC and IOA operations will be published over the coming hours and days, and a documentary on SGC operations will air on TV networks and in cinemas across the world,"

Chapman stepped back from the lectern and looked around slowly. The room was in complete silence for a heartbeat, then it erupted in a storm of shouted questions, brandished briefing papers and flash bulbs.

The new world had arrived.

* * *

And so, we come to the end of the story. I'm not much of a speechwriter, so apologies if they've waffled on. Apologies also for the long wait.


End file.
